No England player who took part in their side’s last Boxing Day Test, against Australia at Melbourne in 2013, will recall it with fondness. Jonny Bairstow, though, had a rougher deal than most and is looking to banish the memories of that nightmare after Christmas when the series against South Africa starts in Durban on 26 December.
At the MCG two years ago Bairstow had been parachuted into an England team who were already 3-0 down in the Ashes series and asked to keep wicket in a Test for the first time. Having played only two days’ cricket in the previous six weeks – in a tour match at Alice Springs best remembered for an alleged racial slur against Monty Panesar by the PA announcer at the ground – it was no surprise he struggled.
As well as returning only 31 runs in two innings, the Yorkshireman dropped Chris Rogers twice as the Australian went on to score a match-winning century. He had been handed the ultimate hospital pass by the then England coach Andy Flower, whose mind had been scrambled not only by his team’s surrender at the hands of Mitchell Johnson but by the retirement of Graeme Swann on the eve of the Test.
Although Bairstow is too polite to put it as bluntly as that, it is clear he feels he was put in an impossible position. The 26-year-old, who was dropped after playing in the final Test defeat in Sydney that sealed a humiliating series whitewash, recalls: “Going back to 2013 I don’t think I’d kept a full season for Yorkshire in county cricket and not having really played any cricket for six weeks was a contributing factor.
“I think I’ve grown as a person over the last couple of years since the two Tests in Australia. The position of the squad and the morale in the camp is completely different from what it was going into those Test matches in Melbourne and Sydney. When you’re 3-0 down against an Australian side that’s flying it’s never going to be an easy Test. So there’s different circumstances that are around this group of players at the moment and it’s an exciting time to be involved in English cricket.”
That excitement has much to do with Trevor Bayliss, England’s level-headed Australian coach who won the Ashes in his first series last summer and gave Bairstow a much-needed confidence boost by declaring on arrival in South Africa he is his first-choice keeper.
Bairstow has still only kept in three Tests having regained the gloves from Jos Buttler for the final match of the series against Pakistan in the UAE last month.
England, who are expected to field a 13-man side when their first three-day warm-up match against a South Africa XI starts in Potchefstroom on Tuesday, have lost all three of those Tests Bairstow has been behind the stumps, but the backing of Bayliss has done much for the player’s state of mind.
“Having the confidence of the captain and coach going into the warm-up games and hopefully the first Test allows you to be relaxed and enjoy yourself,” says Bairstow. “That’s when I play my best cricket and hopefully I’ll be able to do that not only in the warm-up games but going into the series.
“You can never take anything for granted. Every spot within the side has got to be treasured and every opportunity you get you’ve got to try and take. So from game to game you’re always wanting to do as well as you can and get a run. Hopefully I’ll be able to secure that spot. I’ve only kept in three Test matches but it’s an exciting time for me personally. I’m really looking forward to the challenge and with that comes a lot of responsibility.”
Part of Bairstow’s responsibilities in the coming weeks will be to try and outperform AB de Villiers, his opposite number, both behind the stumps and with bat in hand. It may seem like a tall order given the South African is arguably the most devastating batsman in world cricket. Yet it’s a challenge Bairstow is looking to take head-on.
“You want to do as well as you can against the best that you can,” he says. “Obviously comparing yourself to someone like AB is going to be a fantastic challenge and if you do come out being the better of the wicketkeeper-batsmen then I will have had a very good tour.”
England XIII (probable): Cook (capt), Hales, Compton, Root, Taylor, Ballance, Stokes, Bairstow (wkt), Ali, Broad, Anderson, Footitt, Woakes.
South Africa XI (probable): Markram (capt), Gionne Koopman, Luthando Mnyanda, Zubayr Hamza, Somila Seyibokwe, Heinrich Klaasen, Simon Khomari, Andile Phehlukwayo, Johannes Diseko, Thandolwethu Mnyaka, Junior Dala.
