To make up for missing out on the 2022 World Cup, Jonny Bairstow maintains that his batting position is meaningless as he defends the England Twenty20 championship in the Caribbean and the United States.
Because of Phil Salt's outstanding performance in the 3-2 loss to the West Indies in December of last year, Bairstow, 34, is now ranked fourth in the line-up that Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott prefer.
‘I’ve batted all over. It doesn’t matter to me where I bat. It’s a compliment that Jos and Motty think I’ve got the skillset to bat at four,’ he said.
‘I’ve done it a lot. Whether it’s opening the batting or batting at four, to be able to recall your skills even in Test cricket is exactly what you have to do through the middle.’
The Yorkshireman's unbeaten 28 to seal the victory over Pakistan at the Oval on Thursday evening was his 20th innings in such a scenario, raising his average to 34.07; on the 20 occasions he has started against the new ball, it is 29.7. The statistics suggest that England is better prepared when the Yorkshireman comes in two wickets down in T20 internationals.
Any disagreement regarding Buttler's opening partner for this tournament was put to rest by Salt's explosive back-to-back hundreds against the Windies. Among major nation batsmen, Salt's career strike rate of 166.74 is not only significantly higher than Bairstow's (137.77) but also higher than all others save Suryakumar Yadav of India.
And after leading England to a seven-wicket victory and a rainy 2-0 series win over Pakistan at the Oval on Thursday with county teammate Harry Brook, Bairstow made his way to Barbados on Saturday. He acknowledged that it's critical to have a routine for wrapping up games.
2024 has seen him struggle with rhythm, but when it was suggested that he might have found some by coming home early from the Indian Premier League rather than warming the bench for 13 days for Punjab, he responded with his usual bluster and a two-finger salute of a hundred when called back in April.
And it is a testament to his tenacity that he is taking another stab at adding to his 50-over World Cup winner's medal after his surgeon likened the procedure to "putting Humpty Dumpty back together" to treat the serious leg injuries he sustained in a bizarre golf accident in September 2022.
‘Look, I missed out with an injury. It’s part and parcel of life,’ Bairstow matter-of-factly said. ‘But yeah, I want to be a part of winning another World Cup for England.’