England’s Test team head coach, Brendon McCullum, expressed their anticipation for Jonny Bairstow’s upcoming 100th Test in Dharamsala. McCullum, aged 42, acknowledged that it will be an emotional moment for the Yorkshire batter, and they are eager to share the milestone with him.
Bairstow, who debuted in Test cricket in 2012, is set to become the 17th Englishman to reach 100 matches in the format. Despite a challenging series so far, the keeper-batter will aim to bounce back in Dharamsala on this significant occasion.
Addressing the press on Tuesday (Feb. 27), the ex-New Zealand captain mentioned that Bairstow, known for being quite emotional, is on the verge of a significant moment as he approaches his 100th Test.
“Yes he’ll be playing his hundredth Test. We expect a good Jonny. Jonny loves a milestone too. He won’t shy away from that. He’ll play. It’ll be really emotional for him.”
“Everyone knows Jonny’s story and as you guys will know he is quite an emotional character at times and big milestones like that do mean a lot to him. It’ll be a really emotional time for him and we look forward to sharing it with him,” McCullum said.
Although the 34-year-old showcased promise with a couple of innings in Ranchi, his dismissals occurred at inopportune moments. Despite these challenges, both Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have offered unwavering support to Jonny Bairstow.
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Brendon McCullum, impressed by Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley’s performances despite limited first-class experience, urges counties to provide them with more exposure.
“Both of those guys have been outstanding in this series. When we picked Tom and Bash, there was probably a little bit of hesitation from others, and from us there was a bit of apprehension, too.”
“We thought they had the skills, but will they be good enough at this level? What we’ve seen is they are definitely good enough. It will be a slight frustration of ours if they weren’t given opportunities at county level,” McCullum said.
Hartley is presently the top wicket-taker in the series, having secured 20 wickets at an average of 33.45.
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