Jonny Bairstow: Forget my technical issues, look at my runs

London: When Jonny Bairstow was bowled by Australian seamer Peter Siddle during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, he claims his first thought was: ‘Oh no!’ Or words to that effect.

But agony quickly turned into something more palatable. Replays showed Siddle had overstepped — for the only time in 43 overs all game — and Bairstow was saved.

He had 21 when Siddle rearranged his stumps, but went on to make 67, turning England’s first innings around in a crucial fifth-wicket stand with Ian Bell.

The reprieve summed up Australia’s hapless summer so far — and gave England’s No 6 the chance to settle into a series he had been dreaming about since childhood.

On Thursday, Alastair Cook’s team will aim to secure the urn at the earliest possible opportunity by winning the third Test in Manchester, although a rainy draw would do the job too. And Bairstow can’t get enough of the experience.

“It has been fantastic,” said Bairstow. “You grow up wanting to be involved in the Ashes, and the buzz is unbelievable.

“All those Tuesday nights you spend in Yorkshire running up and down hills in the freezing cold and ice — you look back now and realise it was all worth it, because it helped me get where I am, representing my country against Australia.”

The runs Bairstow made at Lord’s, where a year earlier he had taken a top-class South African attack for 95 and 54 as stand-in for the exiled Kevin Pietersen, came with the kind of bullishness that is a natural feature of his batting.

And he is in equally bullish mood when discussing the technical flaw spotted by the experts — namely, a strong bottom hand that causes him to play naturally across the line of full-length deliveries.

He has been bowled five times in 10 Tests; critics have pointed out it would have been six had Siddle not transgressed by a matter of millimetres.

“I’ve no idea what people are saying about my game, but they can say what they like,” Bairstow told Sportsmail.

“Everyone will get scrutinised at the highest level. But this is the game that’s got me playing cricket for Yorkshire — and all the runs I’ve made for them and England.

“Everyone gets out to shots that are their strengths. They might like coming down the track and then miss a straight one. People’s strengths can be their weaknesses. But nine times out of 10 you’ll hit those balls.”

It’s fair to say the 23-year-old, who burst on to the international stage two years ago with a match-winning 41 from 21 balls in a One-Day International against India in Cardiff, can expect plenty of yorkers from Australia’s seamers at Old Trafford. But he is clearly not at a stage in his career to spoil the fun with too much navel-gazing.

This may be because the route to No 6, where he has batted in all four of England’s Tests this summer, has not been straightforward. Bairstow was given only one Test in both India and New Zealand over the winter, and unsurprisingly failed to make a mark in either.

“It’s never easy being in and out of the team,” he said. “So to get a few games is pleasing.”

The decision to move his Yorkshire teammate Joe Root up the order in place of Nick Compton has given Bairstow his chance.

And if Pietersen fails to recover in time for Thursday from his calf strain, he could even move up a spot to No 5.

“I’ve batted at five in every game for Yorkshire, so it’s not something that’s a concern for me,” added Bairstow who has the good sense not to write off Australia. But you feel their plight is not the first thing on his mind. He’s too excited. “The atmosphere at Trent Bridge on the last day was absolutely scintillating,” he said. “The whole country is behind us.”

And some time over the next week, this wide-eyed youngster from Bradford could be an Ashes winner.