Centurion Bairstow insists ‘this is the way I’ve always been capable of playing’

Two weeks after the astonishing innings of 136 that swung the Trent Bridge Test in England’s favour, Jonny Bairstow produced another from the same thrilling mould, heaving the hosts from the brink of disaster to end the day 264 for six and in arrears by a relatively trivial 65, declaring: “This is the way that I’ve always been capable of playing.”

Bairstow ended the second day unbeaten on 130, having compiled a wild partnership of 209 off 223 balls with the debutant Jamie Overton, every run met with a roar by raucous fans at his home ground. There has been much talk of England’s full-bore positivity under their new coach, Brendon McCullum, and the captaincy of Ben Stokes. Its long-term impact remains to be seen but Bairstow certainly seems a player transformed.

“I guess it’s your personality coming out,” he said. “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.”

When Bairstow returned to the team towards the end of England’s miserable Ashes series it was approaching the fourth anniversary of his last Test century. He has since hit four in eight games. “Sometimes it’s a simple game that we complicate,” he said. “We’re trying to strip that complicated nature of it back, and allow people to go out and express themselves.”

The instructions Bairstow and Overton – who is also unbeaten, and 11 away from what would be only a second first-class century – received at tea demonstrated