Jonny Bairstow will have fond memories of his last appearance at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town, but there exists a real possibility that he will be carrying drinks when England take on South Africa in the second Test on Friday.
The Yorkshireman’s maiden Test ton came at the venue in the New Year’s Test in 2016, with the right hander registering unbeaten knocks of 150 and 30 in the drawn clash. 2016 would also turn out to be the most prolific year in the five-day format for Bairstow, who racked up a total of 1, 470 runs at an average of nearly 59.
Three of his six overall Test centuries came in that calendar year with Bairstow subsequently being included in the ICC World Test XI for 2016. However, three years down the line, it has all gone downhill for the 30-year-old in Test cricket, with a place in the England side now longer a guarantee.
While he did manage to score three more tons across 2017 and 2018, they have only managed to do a poor job of patching up a string of otherwise inconsistent displays. 2019, however, has been by far the worst year for Bairstow despite his prolific form in ODI cricket.
In Tests, a paltry 334 runs have come from Bairstow’s bat in 19 innings with his average lying just below 19. His evident lack of runs and form saw him dropped from the England Test squad altogether for the recent tour of New Zealand.
Bairstow can consider himself to be fortunate that he was recalled so swiftly with England’s loss in New Zealand opening the doors for him once again. He still wouldn’t have expected to feature in the playing XI of the Boxing Day Test with young Ollie Pope supposedly ahead of him in the pecking order.
A mystery illness sweeping across the English camp was perhaps the rub of the green that he needed, but there would still be no redemption to follow and only misery. 10 runs were his total contributions in a match where England’s shortcomings with the bat came back to haunt them once again.
Jonny Bairstow's last 20 Test innings:
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 29, 2019
15
12
30
52
14
2
0
0
8
6
52
30*
4
36
17
25
22
14
1
9pic.twitter.com/LUBvHTPJB7
More than his run drought, it is Bairstow’s vulnerable technique against the incoming delivery that has stood out most. The right-hander has been bowled or pinned LBW in 10 out of his last 18 dismissals with the huge gap he leaves between his bat and pad being exposed time and again.
There is no doubt that he is one of the most fearsome openers in limited-overs cricket and it can be argued that England’s white-ball focus in the last few years has taken its toll on his Test batting. While his technical deficiency might not be costly in the shorter formats, there is no hiding place in Tests where pitches are lively and bowlers constantly in attack mode.
Yet, Bairstow does seem to enjoy the backing of the England team management for now and his Yorkshire team-mate Joe Root.
“For Jonny you look at his talent, what he’s achieved and what he potentially could achieve in Test cricket and you think he’s got the capability to go on and make really big scores and be one of the best players in the world as a batter alone,” the England skipper had stated ahead of the South Africa tour.
There is no telling what lies in store for Bairstow in 2020, and whether he will be able to rediscover the form he showed in 2016. England will desperately hope that 2019 is an aberration, rather than the new norm for Bairstow, who in turn, will want to erase it from his memory as soon as possible.
The long rope being extended to him is still finite, and the Yorkshireman needs to fire sooner rather than later if he wants to salvage his free-falling Test career.
