I’ve always been capable of playing this way: Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow, who rescued England with his hundred in the Test Bridge Test after the hosts lost six wickets for just 55, continued to play with a dash of exuberance in the final Test of the series versus New Zealand in Leeds. His souble-hundred partnership with debutant Jamie Overton has well and truly transferred the pressure back on the Kiwis.

The swashbuckling batter, who remained unbeaten on 130 at stumps, said that he is trying to play with an uncluttered mind and is backing his natural game in the middle.

“This is the way that I’ve always been capable of playing,” he said in the presser after the day’s play. “I guess it’s your personality coming out. It’s just a more relaxed me at the crease, I’m not necessarily as tense.

“I’ve gone back to young Jonny, where I’m watching the ball and seeing the ball. There is sometimes a lot of rubbish spoken about a lot of different things, sometimes it gets into your mind and clutters it. I have to listen to the people that matter to me and right now I am doing that. The most important thing is me being me,” Bairstow added.