Ottis Gibson has heaped praise on Jonny Bairstow as the Yorkshire legend prepares to play his 100th Test Match for England against India later this week.
Bairstow will line up in Thursday’s fifth and final Test of the series in Dharamsala (4am UK).
England are 3-1 down, but the 34-year-old and his team-mates will no doubt be desperate to end a long tour on a high.
Bairstow, says Yorkshire coach Gibson, certainly deserves a week to remember.
“Jonny’s journey has been fantastic,” said the former West Indies fast bowler.
“I saw something the other day where he said something like, ‘No one thought that he’d be as good as dad’. But everyone has seen just how good he is.
“That’s especially the case when he gets the bit between his teeth.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jonny Bairstow in action behind the stumps for Yorkshire last season.
“He’s a world-class performer anyhow, but it feels like that goes up a notch when he has a point to prove.
“It’s massive for him, and for Yorkshire to have produced another player who has gone and played 100 Tests. What a fantastic achievement for him and his family.”
Bairstow is only 26 runs away from 6,000 in Test Matches, and he has 12 hundreds to his name, including a best of 167 not out.
A 13th career ton this week would actually be his first 50 plus score of a series which has yielded five scores between 25 and 38.
Gibson said: “Hopefully Jonny can go and get some runs this week and really put that whole, ‘Should he be playing, shouldn’t he be playing’ argument to bed.
“100 Test Matches in this day and age is something to be very proud of, and he knows everyone here at Yorkshire is very proud of him. Let’s hope he has a good week.”
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Yorkshire coach Ottis Gibson.
And Gibson is convinced that there is much more to come from the Bradfordian.
“He’s come back from a horrific injury, and he’s bounced back countless times when the gloves have been taken off him or he’s been moved around the order,” he said. “All those things make it feel like he’s fighting for his place in the team, and it shouldn’t be that way.
“But he does seem to thrive off that kind of thing because he often puts in a really good performance.
“He will be no doubt wanting to do something really special this week.”
Yorkshire are hoping to see a decent amount of their England players this summer, though Bairstow’s schedule looks pretty jam-packed with an IPL campaign in April and May followed by a T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean through June.
Then it’s the home Test Match summer.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Jonny Bairstow poses ahead of his 100th test match in picturesque Dharamsala earlier today.
Gibson added: “There’s so much cricket that the all-format players don’t get too much chance to return to county cricket. We don’t expect to see much of Jonny this summer, but it will be great if we do.
“When he’s around, he’s brilliant for us – on and off the field.”
