England’s wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow has revealed his lofty goal of becoming the No.1 Test batsman in the world. The free flowing batsman broke into the Top 10 of the latest ICC Test Rankings last month after a string of strong performance which has seen him amass 1039 runs at an impressive average of 43.29.
Though he is still a long way from becoming one of the best, he is surely the best Test wicket-keeper batsman currently.
He is currently sitting pretty at No.7 as per latest ICC Rankings after some good performances against South Africa. He is the 2nd highest ranked English batsman with the 2nd spot being occupied by captain Joe Root.
Meanwhile Aussie captain Steve Smith is sitting pretty at the No.1 position and is leading Root by 50 rating points. Bairstow who is on 772 points is of the opinion that sky is the limit if he can continue his good vein of form.
“Seven is, apparently, now where I also find myself in the ICC world batting rankings, which I’m delighted about,” Bairstow wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
“Is No.1 feasible? Why not! It’s not something you think about but my aim has always been to work hard to become the best I can possibly be as a batsman and keeper, and if that pushes me even higher in the rankings then I’ll take that.”
Bairstow will have a chance to improve his Test Rankings further when the English side meets the Caribbeans ahead of the Ashes later in the year. Despite his dream run, Bairstow has vowed not to be over confident and not get carried away with his recent performances.
“I’m delighted with my form with bat and gloves,” he wrote. “It’s just a question of quietly carrying on and not making too big a deal of it when things are going well – but I must confess I was devastated to get out for 99 at Old Trafford.
“It was like that time at Lord’s against South Africa in 2012 when I fell in the 90s. An extra run shouldn’t really matter that much. It doesn’t mean you have not played well. I’m certainly happier to make 99 than nine or 19, but we all know in cricket that extra run does matter,” Bairstow said.
Bairstow not only provided entertainment on the field but was in action on the balcony too when the keeper added to his highlights by catching a Moeen Ali six on the English team balcony.
“I pretty much had to take that extra ‘catch’ on the balcony when Moeen Ali hit one towards us during his fabulous second-innings knock,” he wrote. Everyone else was scarpering back inside. It was just a natural reaction to go and catch the ball, to be honest.
“On a serious note, if it had ricocheted around the balcony it could have hit someone in the face. It’s my job to catch the ball so I just went for it. A good job I caught it, mind because it would probably have gone viral if a ’keeper had dropped it,” Bairstow said.
After a resounding 3-1 series victory against the Proteas, England is all set to host the first ever day night Test on English soil scheduled to start from next Thursday at Edgbaston.
“We are going to have an extra day’s practice with the pink ball ahead of Edgbaston, which will be good because I didn’t get a chance to bat with one in our day-night county match for Yorkshire earlier this season,” Bairstow explained.
“West Indies have come in under the radar to an extent while we’ve been playing South Africa, but we will have a good think about them in the coming days,” Bairstow concluded