“You don’t poke the bear with Jonny!”
Adam Lyth said what most people would have been thinking at Headingley today as they watched brilliant Jonny Bairstow score a century to help Yorkshire start their clash with Middlesex in fine fashion.
Yorkshire ended day one of this Vitality County Championship promotion battle between the third and second-placed teams in Division Two on 372-5.
Bairstow scored a fine 107 not out from number five during the afternoon and evening sessions.
It came just a few days after he was left out of England’s limited overs squads for their series against Australia next month. Earlier this summer, he also missed out on Test selection.
“He doesn’t like it,” said England selector Luke Wright.
And everybody knows that when Bairstow has a point to prove, he’s at his best.
Lyth contributed 61 and George Hill 58 not out, the latter sharing a sixth-wicket partnership of 130 unbroken with Bairstow.
Opener Lyth said: “Your big players turn up in big moments, and Jonny’s a big player for us. He showed his class. That partnership with Hilly is over 100 now, and hopefully Hilly can go on tomorrow and get a hundred and Jonny can get a really big one to put us in a fantastic position so that our spinners can set attacking fields.
“To do that, we have to bat well for another 40 or 50 overs.
“I just see a very hungry Jonny Bairstow. I don’t think he’ll be giving his wicket away too easy tomorrow. He’s been great to have around. Last week, Scarborough’s a big place for him, and he’s carried that form on here.
“Hopefully, for the rest of the season, we’re going to get the very best Jonny Bairstow.
“He’s playing beautifully, and it’s great to see. It’s great to see him with a smile on his face. That was a special knock today.”
On the day as a whole, Lyth continued: “It was a very good day, I would say.
“We won the toss, it’s a used wicket and we’re playing two spinners. In an ideal world, we’d have lost one or two fewer wickets, but to have 380 on the board is good.
“I should have gone on and got a big hundred, and there were a couple of loose shots in and amongst it. But that happens. In all, it was a very good day one.
“I must say, it’s the flattest wicket I’ve batted on at Headingley ever, probably.
“I don’t know if it’s the pitch or the Kookaburra ball, but it didn’t do a lot. It took some turn, and we’re playing two spinners. It’s going to be an exciting three days.”
Hill was superb late on after a run of recent low scores.
“George has gone through a tricky patch with the bat, but I spoke to him in the nets yesterday, when he batted as well as I’ve ever seen him,” said Lyth.
“I said, ‘You bat like that in the middle and you’ll get loads of runs’. He played beautifully as well.”
During his innings, Lyth was struck on the right hand by a Noah Cornwell delivery, and he had it strapped when he undertook post-day media duties.
“The hand’s ok,” he added with a smile. “I’m holding a beer, so all’s good!
“Broken hand or anything, I won’t be missing a thing. But it’s fine. Don’t worry.”
