Ashes player profiles: Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow scored six centuries in 10 Tests for England in 2022 and he could play a pivotal role in the 2023 Ashes series against Australia.

Returning to action after a broken leg, Bairstow will also keep wicket in the Ashes, which starts at Edgbaston on Friday. 

England are 13/8 to win the five-match series with Australia 10/11 and the Draw 11/2.

Name	Jonny Bairstow
Age	33
Position	Wicketkeeper and right-handed batsman
Teams	England and Yorkshire
Test Appearances	90
Test runs	5482
Test catches/stumpings	216/13

Jonny Bairstow background

The son of former Yorkshire and England wicketkeeper David Bairstow, Jonny Bairstow made his first-class debut in 2009 and soon established himself in the Yorkshire first team.

He enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2011, scoring his maiden first-class century against Nottinghamshire before making his ODI and Twenty20 international debuts at the end of the summer.

He was player of the match in his first ODI against India, cracking 41 not out off 21 balls, and the following summer he made his first Test appearance for England, playing as a specialist batsman against the West Indies at Lord's.

Jonny Bairstow career achievements

Bairstow has had a long and varied England career, appearing in 90 Test matches, 95 ODIs and 66 T20 internationals over the past 12 years.

He was a central figure in the 2019 World Cup triumph, scoring back-to-back centuries in England's crucial group-stage victories against India and New Zealand, and he has developed into one of the world's best 50-over openers.

In Test cricket he has batted in every position from number three to number eight and kept wicket in 50 of his 90 matches.

Bairstow had a golden run with the bat in 2016 when only teammate Joe Root, with 1,477, scored more than his 1,470 runs and he hit another rich vein of form last year.

In January he scored 113 against Australia at the SCG – England's only century of the 2021/22 Ashes – and in June he smashed 136 off 92 balls in a stunning run-chase against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.

The following Test against the Kiwis at Headingley, Bairstow's home ground, yielded scores of 162 and 71 not out and he continued his run glut with centuries in both innings of July's victory over India at Edgbaston.  

Jonny Bairstow playing style

At his best, Bairstow is a brilliantly destructive batsman with a range of thumping shots through both sides of the wicket and the power to clear the ropes.

His 136 against New Zealand last summer featured seven huge sixes deposited over the leg-side boundary and helped England chase down a target of 299 in just 50 overs.

As a wicketkeeper, Bairstow will never look as comfortable behind the stumps as stylish specialist Ben Foakes, who narrowly missed out on selection for the 2023 Ashes. 

However, his athleticism and work ethic cannot be questioned and, when not keeping, he is one of England's sharpest outfielders. 

Jonny Bairstow playing records

Bairstow has a solid Test average of 37, despite playing a variety of roles for England over the years, with 12 centuries, 23 fifties, 216 catches and 13 stumpings in his 90 appearances.

He reached 3,000 ODI runs in just 72 innings, equalling Root's England record, and his stand of 241 with Jamie Overton against New Zealand at Headingley last year was England's highest seventh-wicket partnership in Tests.

Bairstow's Test career-best innings of 167 not out against Sri Lanka in 2016 is the second-highest score by an England wicketkeeper, behind Alec Stewart's 173 in New Zealand in 1997.

And his maiden Test century, an unbeaten 150, came in January 2016 against South Africa in Cape Town, where he shared a stunning partnership of 399 with Ben Stokes – the highest sixth-wicket stand in Test history.  

Jonny Bairstow Ashes odds

After a prolific 2022 in Test cricket, Bairstow is likely to move down the order to number seven as he keeps wicket for England in the Ashes and he is 8/1 to be their Top Team Batter in the series.

He was the only England player to reach three figures in an innings during the 4-0 defeat to Australia in the 2021/22 Ashes series and is 15/2 to score the hosts' First Team Century.

After six tons in 10 Tests last year Bairstow is 8/11 To Score a Century in the Series and 11/10 not to make a hundred.

The series starts at Edgbaston, where Bairstow scored 106 and 114 not out against India in July 2022, and he is 12/1 to be Player of the Match in the first Test.