Former cricketer David Llyod has backed underfire England wicket-keeper batter Jonny Bairstow, who has struggled in the ongoing five-match test series against India. He compared Bairstow to other wicket-keeper batters, including former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Jonny Bairstow has scored 170 runs in four test matches so far in the series against India. He averages 21.25 and has a best score of 38. He has been criticised by former players for his poor run. However, David Llyod has backed Bairstow expressing that his overall stats are ideal for a wicket-keeper. The England cricketer will be playing his 100th Test match in the fifth test against India. He has scored 5974 runs so far at an average of 36.42. He has twelve centuries and a highest score of 167*. In his column for The Daily Mail, David Llyod wrote,
“With an average of 36 and a strike rate of 59, he is someone who influences outcomes. Those numbers are close to ideal for a wicketkeeper. To critics of his glovework, I ask you: was Adam Gilchrist the best wicketkeeper in Australia when he played Test cricket? Was Mahendra Singh Dhoni the best in India? Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara? Our own Matt Prior? Brendon McCullum of New Zealand?”
“No, and in each case their worth to the team in front of the stumps outweighed whatever they did behind them. Ditto Bairstow’s worth to England, and he really comes into his own joining an existing batter in the middle or being left with the tail,” he added.
Totally unselfish, with an ability to change the game: David Llyod
Former cricketer David Llyod further hailed Jonny Bairstow as an unselfish player. He expressed that Bairstow puts the opposition teams under pressure with his ability to turn the match on its head. David Llyod expressed,
“Never doubted he was a player who was going to make it. Why? Because of his style: totally unselfish, with an ability to change the game. It is so important in Tests to put pressure back on the opposition. Having been an international coach, I can tell you that his name will feature on the whiteboard in the opposition dressing room because he can really hurt you with the speed of his scoring.”
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