Jonny Bairstow credits freedom from bio-bubble for his sudden rise in form

England batter Jonny Bairstow had a remarkable turnaround in his career this year. The explosive batter is the leading run-scorer in Test cricket in 2022 with 994 runs in eight matches. Bairstow has six centuries to his name, scoring at an average of 76 and an identical strike rate this year. The batter has also stormed his way into the top ten batsmen in Test rankings.

Bairstow has stated that the freedom from Covid protocols is the secret behind his terrific form. He has also credited the clarity about his role in the team under the leadership of England’s new coach Brendon Mccullum.

"It's the freedom we have now. We're not in hotel rooms, bubbles, having to do Covid tests every day and we can do normal things like go to the shop, go for a beer, see your friends and family," Bairstow told the Tailenders podcast.

"All of those things accumulate together and obviously the excitement of working with Baz (McCullum) and the clarity he gave everyone,” he added. England's four successive Test victories recently have come playing aggressive cricket under their new coach and former New Zealand Captain McCullum.

Bairstow also revealed the conversation he had with McCullum, sharing tips the latter gave him that have worked wonders for him so far.

"Before we played New Zealand, there was chat about going to the Indian T20 League and not playing county cricket but Baz phoned me, said I was batting five in the Tests, to get my head around it and crack on," Bairstow said.

"Baz also spoke to me a bit about imposing myself on the game - nothing technical. That can be tricky in red-ball cricket because you don't want to look like you're slogging,” he added.

Bairstow took the cricketing fraternity by storm as he made a mockery of the 299-target set by New Zealand in the second Test at Nottingham of the recent Test series. The star batter took the New Zealand bowlers to cleaners as he made 136 off 92 balls with 14 fours and 7 sixes. The batter followed it up with another century in the third Test.

The swashbuckling batter unleashed his beast mode against India in the rescheduled fifth Test at Southampton as he scored twin hundreds helping England chase their highest total in the fourth innings in their rich history of Test cricket.