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West Indian sits atop the run charts and his team occupies the same place on the points table

Aadam Patel30-Nov-2022T10 is brutal. On Tuesday night, Jason Roy played well for an unbeaten 57 off 33 balls but his knock ultimately lacked in short-form cricket’s most important measure. There were zero sixes to his name.Roy’s Deccan Gladiators side put up a total of 108 for 3 that was then chased down by Chennai Brave. He scored more than anyone else in the game but the Player-of-the-Match award instead went to Dan Lawrence for his 40 off 18.In pretty much every form of the game, Roy’s knock would be praised but as it was, he was left out for Wednesday evening’s clash against Bangla Tigers. He may have scored runs but to take up more than half of the innings and not clear the ropes once proved crucial. This is the one format that demands the batter to hit sixes.Against the Tigers, the Gladiators were asked to chase and incidentally their target was exactly the same as they had set the previous night. That was largely thanks to another onslaught from Pakistan’s Iftikhar Ahmed, who carried on from his unbeaten 83 off 30 deliveries on Tuesday, to finish not out on 54 off 21 deliveries.But this time around, the Gladiators won with 23 balls to spare. Half-centuries for both Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Nicholas Pooran helped the reigning champions breeze to a total of 109 in just 37 deliveries.They scored at nearly three runs a ball in what was a statement run-chase by Mushtaq Ahmed’s side. A chase reminiscent of the ruthless manner in which they blasted 159 in last year’s final and ahead of the final this Sunday, they again look like the side to be feared.The chase wasn’t meant to be that simple but Kohler-Cadmore and Pooran put on a show with 11 sixes between them. Pooran was on 20 off 10 before he took on Shakib Al Hasan and hit five sixes in an over to bring up a 16-ball half-century. And Kohler-Cadmore decided he wasn’t missing out either. The next over, he hit Rohan Mustafa for 17 and brought up his half-century off 21 deliveries with then the winning runs too.It was a stunning exhibition of hitting between the two men who stand clear at the top of the Abu Dhabi T10 run charts. Pooran’s 19 fours and 21 sixes across six games puts him at No. 1 with 249 runs at an average of 62.25. Kohler-Cadmore isn’t far behind with 217 runs at an average of 72.33. But perhaps most importantly, the pair are striking at well over 200.”We had a poor game last time so a lot of the talk in the pre-match meeting was just about enjoying ourselves again,” Pooran said post-match. And boy did he enjoy himself. Since stepping down from West Indies captaincy, he has somewhat rediscovered his joy for the game.And you only had to look at the earlier game of Wednesday’s triple-header to appreciate his six-hitting talent. It saw the lowest score of the tournament with Chennai Brave struggling to 71 for 6 against Team Abu Dhabi after losing their entire top order in the first over to Naveen-ul-Haq. The Afghanistan paceman removed Dan Lawrence and Sikandar Raza with his first two deliveries and finished his over by getting David Malan.Remarkably, Team Abu Dhabi got off to a similar start as Alex Hales and James Vince were dismissed in the first over by Patrick Dooley before Sam Cook got Brandon King. But, from 1 for 3, Chris Lynn and Fabian Allen combined to take their side to their target and a third successive win.With two days left in the league phase of the Abu Dhabi T10, the Gladiators sit top of the standings with Team Abu Dhabi one point behind them. And based on current form, they are both set to extend their stay till the weekend for the finals.

They might be stubborn to a fault, but their mantra works: the team making fewer mistakes wins more often than not

Sidharth Monga24-May-20232:13

Tom Moody: CSK’s an example of a perfect high-performance environment

When a batter is struggling the way Devon Conway was, the broadcast cameras turn to the dugout and the dressing room for reactions. Seen as the new Michael Hussey for Chennai Super Kings, Conway seemed unable to hit out or get out even as Ruturaj Gaikwad scored fluently at the other end. It was like he was in quicksand: the harder he tried, the deeper he sank. He was in control of exactly half the deliveries he faced.Yet, no camera could spot a reaction in the dugout, where coach Stephen Fleming sat, or in the dressing room, where MS Dhoni sat. Dhoni has been through this before. He has seen Yuvraj Singh get stuck in the T20 World Cup final in 2014 but with much less luck than Conway, who at least found a few edged boundaries. He has seen Ravindra Jadeja get stuck in a previous T20 World Cup in England, but that has not stopped him from backing Jadeja.Related

• Did Dhoni deliberately waste time to let Pathirana bowl against Titans?

• Jadeja finally gets his Chepauk (yel)love

• MS Dhoni: 'I can be a very annoying captain'

• CSK squeeze the Titans to enter their tenth IPL final

• How Chennai Super Kings filled the Dwayne Bravo-sized hole in death overs

You wonder if Dhoni was reminded of that Dhaka night, but you also had to be certain that not for a second would anyone in that camp have even thought of something as funky as pulling one of their most reliable batters out so that someone else can have a go.CSK don’t believe in anything funky. If a specialist batter of their side is finding it tough out there, they believe there’s every chance the new batter will find it tougher. They are happy as long as the player is showing the right intent and trying to do what he has trained for.When the camera did catch a reaction from Dhoni, it was when the game was done and dusted, as GT needed 31 off eight with one wicket in hand, and Tushar Deshpande tried to bluff Mohammed Shami looking for a wicket. He let out a long “” [whyyyyyyy] and showed Deshpande the number of fielders on the off side when he bowled at Shami’s pads.In the same vein, Dhoni said in the post-match presentation that he has told his fielders that dropping a catch won’t draw a reaction from him but not looking at him all the time – he is a fastidious captain who keeps moving his fielders a couple of feet this way or that often – will not be good for them.The process matters, the results don’t: it sounds good to hear, but in a playoff, when the match is slipping away, when you are aware of what the dew did to your bowlers in the last match at the same venue, there aren’t many leaders other than Dhoni and Fleming who still manage to believe that the team making fewer mistakes wins more often than not.On the night, Hardik Pandya said their side made more “basic errors”. Despite being the best side in the tournament, they were doing all the running: bringing in a player for the first time this IPL, disrupting the batting order that won them the last match without a straightforward reason. Pandya also said they gave up two-three slot balls too many, which was the difference between the two sides.This isn’t to vindicate not improvising. CSK and India under Dhoni have lost matches in the past when they perhaps would have been better off improvising, but CSK are happy to live with those days when the other side wins despite making more errors in a format of cricket that depends heavily on luck. They are happy with 160 and competing rather than going for 180 and risking being bowled out for 140.MS Dhoni is seldom far from a catch, or an IPL final•Getty ImagesThe luck was on CSK’s side. Only the second front-foot no-ball by Gujarat Titans turned out to be the one that got Ruturaj Gaikwad’s wicket, who went on to become the Player of the Match. CSK scored 14 extra runs because of that according to ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index; they won by 15.More importantly, the dew arrived later than the other night and offered them a 45-minute period between the powerplay and the death where Jadeja and Maheesh Theekshana were able to turn the ball at high speed. At such times, the combination of Dhoni and Jadeja is irresistible, and Theekshana is quickly joining the club.Even when a mistake was inevitable, Dhoni had the presence of mind to choose the smaller one. We don’t know what the fitness issue was, but Matheesha Pathirana was off the field for some time after his first over. At the time the 16th over was starting, he still had not served enough time on the field to be able to start his second over. Had he not bowled Pathirana then, Dhoni would have had to do without four overs from his main weapon at the death.Between having to miss out on one Pathirana over and instead bowling a bowler who is cold, and having an extra fielder in the circle for one over, Dhoni picked the obvious lesser evil. He let the clock run until the umpires said Pathirana had served his time, and went ahead without fuss. This was Dhoni’s captaincy version of what he tells his bowlers: if you bowl a bad over, make sure it is 13-14-run bad and not 20-run bad.In an endearing post-match interview, Dhoni was asked if he has reached a stage where he can call the 10th IPL final in 14 attempts just another final. Already a little emotional from the generous reaction from the crowd, Dhoni said that in a tournament as big as IPL there can never be “just another final”. Who knows it could even be the last match he plays for CSK. For four hours on Sunday then, can he and Fleming pretend the results don’t matter and the process does?

Also: what’s the quickest an ODI target has been chased down in terms of scoring rate?

Steven Lynch21-Mar-2023Australia knocked off their target in the second ODI at 11 an over – was this the fastest such rate in a win? asked Murray Greenfield from Australia

Australia passed their target of 118 in Visakhapatnam at the weekend in just 11 overs, at a scoring rate of exactly 11.Only three targets have been overhauled at a faster rate in all ODIs. Top of the list is New Zealand’s demolition of Bangladesh in Queenstown on New Year’s Eve in 2007: a modest target 93 of was knocked off in just six overs – that’s a rate of 15.83 an over – with Brendon McCullum hitting 80 not out while Jamie How contributed seven.New Zealand lie second on the list as well, scoring 118 for 0 at 14.16 an over to beat Sri Lanka in Christchurch in 2015-16. And six days before Australia’s recent onslaught, Nepal went at 13.04 an over in defeating Papua New Guinea in Kirtipur. The World Cup record was set in Wellington in February 2015, when New Zealand hurtled to their target against England at 10.13 an over.India lost in Visakhapatnam with 234 balls to spare, their heaviest defeat by that yardstick, beating a defeat with 212 balls to spare by New Zealand in Hamilton in 2018-19. For that list, click here.Temba Bavuma recently made his second Test century, in his 97th innings, 88 innings after his first. Has any other player had a bigger gap between Test centuries? asked Jeremy Bourke from Australia

You’re right that Temba Bavuma’s second Test century for South Africa – his 172 against West Indies in Johannesburg earlier this month – came 88 innings after his first, an unbeaten 102 against England in Cape Town in January 2016.Only one man has had a longer gap between Test hundreds: there were 92 innings between the New Zealand wicketkeeper Adam Parore’s first ton (100 not out against West Indies in Christchurch in 1994-95) and his second (110 vs Australia in Perth in 2001-02).Another South African, Mark Boucher, had 73 innings between Test centuries; Pakistan’s Moin Khan had a gap of 69 innings, and Mahmudullah of Bangladesh 68.The longest time gap between Test centuries is almost 14 years by Australia’s Warren Bardsley, between 1912 (164 against South Africa at Lord’s) and 1926 (when he carried his bat for 193 against England, also at Lord’s, when he was 43).India’s first six partnerships on the fourth Test were all of 50 or more – has this ever happened in a Test before? asked Jeevan Malhotra from India

India’s innings in Ahmedabad earlier this month was actually the third time a Test innings had started with six successive partnerships of 50 or more. The first occasion was in Australia’s first innings in the famous tied Test in Brisbane in 1960-61, and it happened again in Pakistan’s first innings against Bangladesh in Khulna in 2015.There are 17 instances of the first five wickets all producing partnership of 50 or more.Polly Umrigar is the only other allrounder apart from Vinoo Mankad to complete the set of a fifty, 150 and a five-wicket haul in the same match•William Vanderson/Getty ImagesHas any allrounder scored a fifty, a 150 and taken a five-wicket haul in the same Test, apart from Vinoo Mankad at Lord’s in 1952? asked Raghav Manickam from India

That remarkable performance by India’s Vinoo Mankad – 72 and 184, either side of taking 5 for 196 in 73 overs at Lord’s in 1952 – has been matched only once – by another Indian, Polly Umrigar, who scored 56 and 172 not out after taking 5 for 107 against West Indies in Port-of-Spain in 1961-62. Ian Botham just missed out, with 50, 149 not out and 6 for 95 for England against Australia at Headingley in 1981. There have been five other instances of a player scoring a hundred, a half-century and taking a five-for in the same Test. And there are two cases of this in women’s Tests, both by England’s Enid Bakewell – 114, 5 for 56 and 66 not out ­against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1968-69, and 68, 112 not out and 7 for 61 against West Indies at Edgbaston in 1979.Regarding last week’s question about people who made their first-class debuts in a Test, I thought Parthiv Patel did this? Should he be on that list? asked Mahendra Bhasin from India, among others

The Indian wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel played the first of his eventual 25 Tests at Trent Bridge in 2002, when he was only 17. That was actually his tenth first-class match – but what was unusual was that none of the previous nine had come in India, which makes him unique among Indian Test players.Parthiv made his first-class debut for India A in South Africa in 2001-02, and had also played in Sri Lanka and England before his Test debut. On returning home he had one first-class match before playing his first Test in India, against West Indies in Mumbai: at that point he had still not appeared in the Ranji Trophy (he did not play in it until 2004-05, his 45th match).The Indian statistician Pushkar Pushp tells me that Parthiv is one of only four men to make their Test debut for India before appearing in the Ranji Trophy, since the tournament started in 1934-35, following Ramesh “Buck” Divecha (1951-52), Budhi Kunderan (1959-60) and Vivek Razdan, who made his first-class debut for the Rest of India in the Irani Cup match against Ranji champions Delhi in Bombay (now Mumbai) in November 1989, and was selected for the upcoming tour of Pakistan, and had one further match there before playing in the second Test in Faisalabad, just 20 days after his first-class debut.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Several key themes emerged, some predicted, some not, from the second edition of the BBL overseas draft

Alex Malcolm04-Sep-2023

Availability wasn’t a major worry

All the talk coming into the draft was that BBL clubs would prioritise the availability of overseas players above all else to the point where several clubs hinted they would only take ILT20 players who could play all 10 home and away games, instead of players signed up for the SA20 that starts earlier in January, or players who were likely to have international duty during the BBL. That situation did not eventuate.Rashid Khan and Quinton de Kock were both taken in the first four picks despite not being available beyond January 5 while England’s Test tour of India in mid-January did not prove a major deterrent with Harry Brook, Zak Crawley and Rehan Ahmed all snapped up. Tom Curran, Chris Jordan and Haris Rauf could also be called away for international limited-overs duties, and yet all three were taken in the first nine picks. Clubs appeared happy to take the best players on offer and will back themselves to find replacements if and when they need them.Related

• Harry Brook withdraws from the BBL

• Kapp goes pick one to Thunder in WBBL draft as Scorchers retain Devine

• How the drafts played out

• De Kock to make his BBL debut while Brook and Crawley find new clubs

Three clubs only take two overseas

The WBBL draft was plagued by passes in the third and fourth rounds as seven of the eight clubs only took two overseas players due to the bespoke direct nomination rule. There was a similar spate of passes in the BBL draft despite no such rule being in play. But clubs were allowed to take only two overseas and then sign a third at a later stage, provided the player had nominated for the draft. Melbourne Renegades, Perth Scorchers and Sydney Thunder all took this option. The major reason for only taking two players is flexibility.One of the negatives of the draft from a club perspective is that they are locked into signing a player in September when so much can change in terms of injuries and availability between now and the start of the tournament in December. The negative from the BBL’s perspective is the later rounds of the draft can fall flat when there are more passes than expected. It may be something the BBL needs to look at next year.James Vince still got to the Sixers despite being available to be poached•Getty Images

Loyalty remains valued despite retention being tested

There were two intriguing storylines into the draft with Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat both set to be severely tested by other clubs given they could only use one retention pick. Sixers had three retention options among the platinum players in Curran, Jordan and James Vince. Hobart Hurricanes tested Sixers’ mettle early using pick three on Curran knowing they could get one of the others. Sixers bit straight away, retaining Curran. Hurricanes then took Jordan, filling their need for a bowling allrounder. It left one of the BBL’s most consistent overseas performers in Vince up for grabs to any club who wanted him for 10 straight picks. But no one took him, and Sixers were able to pick him at pick 14.Similarly, there was pre-draft talk of a club potentially trying to force Heat to choose between Colin Munro and Sam Billings. In the end, Heat didn’t have to use their retention pick on either. Billings was actually available to Hurricanes at pick 11 but they opted for Heat’s other retention pick in Sam Hain and Heat let him go, then took Billings with pick 15.Eight players – Vince, Munro, Billings, Rauf, Adam Hose, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Alex Hales, and Laurie Evans – returned to their previous club without a retention pick needed. Only two were used to retain Rashid and Curran, and only four players – Hain, Jordan, Brook and Crawley – were selected by a new club. Despite the BBL wanting more player movement, loyalty, familiarity, and culture remain strong forces among the BBL clubs in selecting overseas players.

Hundred is the BBL’s major overseas recruiting farm

The two competitions are closely linked with so many Australian administrators, coaches and players working across both competitions. It should be no surprise then that so many of this year’s draftees have come from the Hundred. Eighteen of the 21 players drafted played in the Hundred including eight from the two finalists, Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals. Player of the tournament Jamie Overton will make his BBL debut this year after being shrewdly selected by Strikers.Zaman Khan was a surprise selection at pick 13•Getty ImagesPakistan gems still sought-after commoditiesPakistan players have long been attractive prospects for BBL clubs and quite often it is those just under the international radar that are the most sought after following the success of Rauf. Two more get to follow in his footsteps in Zaman Khan and Usama Mir although unlike Rauf, both have already played international cricket and have been appearing in a number of leagues around the world this year alone. Stars are hoping Mir will fill the huge spin hole they have and become a cult hero bowling his fast legspin at the MCG, while Thunder have added Zaman. Thunder’s selection was especially bold at pick 13 given the number of high-quality fast bowlers available.American Anderson not a forgotten manHurricanes’ head of strategy Ricky Ponting said moments after selecting Corey Anderson that he was “a forgotten man” in global cricket. The former New Zealand allrounder has not played an official T20 since August 2020 having not featured in international cricket for New Zealand since 2018 after announcing his intention to qualify for USA. But Anderson, 32, has re-emerged this year in Major League Cricket for San Francisco Unicorns, a team run by Cricket Victoria and coached by former Australia allrounder Shane Watson, who is a close friend of Ponting.Hurricanes captain Matthew Wade also played with Anderson and witnessed firsthand his stunning 91 not out off 52 balls where he torched a MI New York attack featuring Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult and Kieron Pollard. That was enough for Hurricanes to take him with their third pick and they hope he can replicate those feats on the small dimensions of Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

The visitors were flying at 153 for 4. Then came the miraculous slide

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2024

33.1 Ngidi to Rahul, OUT

There’s the edge! Loose shot from Rahul and it’s Ngidi’s extra bounce that’s done the trick. Rahul couldn’t resist going for that upper cut the moment he saw this short and wide but the ball just got a tad big on him. Rahul only managed the faintest of edges through to the keeper.

33.2 Ngidi to Jadeja, no run

Jadeja gets besides the line and fends this short of length delivery into the off side.

33.3 Ngidi to Jadeja, OUT

Two in the over and it’s the extra bounce that’s felled Jadeja! This is dug in short, the ball ducks back in alarmingly to catch Jadeja by surprise, he isn’t able to keep this down, tries to weave out of the way but the ball pops up off the glove as Jansen takes a good low catch at gully.

33.4 Ngidi to Bumrah, no run

Squared up but manages to defend as he gets behind the line.India’s fall of wickets•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

33.5 Ngidi to Bumrah, OUT

That’s three in the over for South Africa and they’ve come storming back. Dug in short, Bumrah can’t get behind the line, is caught in two minds and the steep bounce has its say as the ball balloons off the shoulder of the bat to gully.

33.6 Ngidi to Siraj, no run

Rises with the bounce and defends. Triple-wicket over.

34.1 Rabada to Kohli, no run

Beaten. A length ball just outside off. Kohli goes for the drive and misses.

34.2 Rabada to Kohli, OUT

Kohli too departs! A length ball in the channel. He pushes at it tentatively, gets an outside edge that goes low to second slip where Markram completes a tumbling catch. Kohli is waiting near the boundary line; looks like they are checking if the catch was clean. It was.

34.3 Rabada to Prasidh, no run

Full outside off. Steered towards backward point.

34.4 Rabada to Prasidh, OUT

Chaos. Chaos. A run-out now. A full ball around off. Prasidh pushes it towards mid-on. Siraj sets off for a single but Burger from short midwicket intercepts the ball. Prasidh sends Siraj back but it’s of no use. Burger takes a few steps towards the stumps and flicks the ball onto them to find Siraj short.

34.5 Rabada to Prasidh, OUT

It’s all over. India have lost their last six wickets without adding another run. Full outside off. Mukesh hangs his bat out, gets an outside edge and Markram from second slip pouches another, diving across to his left and getting both hands to it.

One of England’s most combative cricketers reaches a milestone that reflects the pride he brought to his cricket

Vithushan Ehantharajah04-Mar-2024It will be 150 days between Jonny Bairstow’s 100th ODI cap and his 100th in Tests this Thursday for the final match of England’s tour of India. Both will have come in Dharamsala, which feels particularly apt.This, after all, is a vibrant town teeming with lost souls desperate to find themselves. There is an unavoidable spirituality to the place, whether you believe in such things or not. Its roads wind awkwardly towards the summit of the Himalayas, featuring constant flirtations with obstacles – bleating or otherwise – and cliff edges that either stymy your progress or put you off altogether. All punctuated by flashes of jaw-dropping wonder.For Bairstow, 100 ODIs were a recognition of brilliance. The 100 Tests, however, are a measure of spirit. He will join 16 other Englishman to have reached that mark, including Ben Stokes who got there last month. With all due respect to them, few, if any, have wanted it more. And only when you start to unpack that assertion do you really get a sense of the “who” and “why” of Bairstow, and “what” he has meant to English cricket.This, after all, was the kid given first dibs on the Test scene among his long-standing peers – six months before Joe Root, 18 before Stokes. Root was to be the reliable runscorer, Stokes the explosive character. Bairstow was deemed to be both.The debut series against West Indies at the start of the 2012 summer came and went. But it was his fourth cap, at Lord’s against South Africa, that got people dreaming of what this furious 21-year-old could become. A brutal 95 gave England a slim first-innings lead against the most complete attack of the modern era. A 54 in the second threatened an unlikely chase. All while one of the best English Test teams in generations was in the early stages of collapsing in on itself.The numbers show that Bairstow’s early promise did not come to fruition. Of the English Test batters in the 100-cap bracket, his average of 36.42 is the lowest. Even if he does mark the occasion with a 13th century – who could rule that out? – that figure too will be lowest among the select few, with Ian Botham just in front on 14.Bairstow has made a series of starts on the India tour, but has yet to push on•Getty ImagesAt the same time, Bairstow has found himself at the vanguard of the English game in two very different eras, like a havoc-wreaking time traveller. In 2016, he set calendar year records for the most runs by any wicketkeeper of any nationality (1,470) and affected more dismissals (70) than the lot of them. Six years later in 2022, his four centuries and 681 runs in a single summer launched a thrilling cult.Had Bairstow not been English, with such a volume of Test cricket available to him, he might not have had a chance to reach this landmark. Through reasons pertaining to form, role and injury, he has missed 51 Tests since debuting almost 12 years ago. By contrast, Kane Williamson, who debuted in November 2010, will only reach his century in the second Test against Australia next week, having missed just 11.There have been a few “what if” moments along the way. A tough period averaging 27.98 against the red ball between 2017 and 2019 coincided with a three-year run in which he cemented his status as a generational white-ball opener, with nine ODI hundreds among 2,403 runs scored at a strike rate of 108.24. The scales of technique balanced too far one way, in particular his propensity to open up his stance for those powerplay launches through the covers, but Bairstow is a world champion for it.The severe leg break at the end of the 2022 summer that required nine pins and a wire going through his ankle cost him six Tests, nine months and perhaps a shot at legendary status. As for the wicketkeeping conundrum – how long have you got?The battle for the gloves has been a constant sticking point, and Bairstow has worn each snub personally. Most chastening was at the start of the 2018 season, when national selector Ed Smith made the understandable decision to shoehorn Jos Buttler into the side. Soon enough, Buttler was keeping.Jonny Bairstow’s century in Sri Lanka in 2018 was a classic of its genre•Getty ImagesThe jostling with Ben Foakes has been a different dynamic. Foakes is one of the best glovemen England have ever been able to call on, but with enough lacking in his batting to allow Bairstow to seize his role last summer upon his return from injury. Chances were missed, the Ashes were drawn, and there are many who reasonably equate the two together. It is also true that England’s indecision means none of the three have done themselves justice.The link between Bairstow’s desire to keep wicket and his late father is unavoidable. David Bairstow also performed the role for Yorkshire and England, and the similarities between the two are particularly striking. From the eyes, Jonny carrying forward David’s nickname, “Bluey”, to their approach to the game. Cricket writer David Hopps described Bairstow senior’s batting as “chest-juttingly confrontational, as if forever driven forth by an imagined slight, from a selector or a southerner, a team-mate or a journalist”. He may as well have been talking about Jonny.Of course, not all of Jonny’s slights have been imagined, and few have perfected the “F*** you!” knock with such vendetta-ridden precision. Right down to staring down entire press boxes, leaving those within them grateful of the thick glass, but unsure if he might proceed to hack away at the foundations with his bat.That rage, fleeting as it is, stems from a long-held belief that people do not rate his talents, which could not be further from the truth. But the idea that he is fuelled by proving people wrong, even his team-mates’ occasional comments that winding him up before sending him out onto the field gets the best out of him, is a tad reductive. He is a player unwittingly defined by broad extrapolations.The tragedy of David’s suicide – Jonny, aged eight, returned home to find him with his mother, Janet, and sister, Becky – is often linked to an emotional yet bloody-minded career. But it has been one cultivated by love, thanks to an incredibly tightknit family, held together by Janet.Her strength through it all, especially two battles with breast cancer – the first at the time of David’s passing – has made Jonny the man he is. Thursday’s celebrations will be alongside those loved ones, which now include his partner Megan and their first child, along with a throng of close friends. No doubt when the cap presentation takes place, there will be a look to the heavens, as there was nine years ago in Cape Town after that maiden Test century, towards the one who cannot be there. Even thousands of miles away from home, home will be right there with him.It would be foolish not to entertain the sentimentality of all this. Appreciating the emotion of Bairstow has always been the quickest route to knowing the person. He craves reassurance, a vulnerability McCullum saw first-hand early in his tenure when, a week after striking 136 off 92 deliveries against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, Bairstow asked his coach how he should approach the next innings. McCullum scoffed at the mere idea of doing anything differently, ordering him to sit next to him and go through his Sudoku book to keep out of his own head.The Headingley crowd erupts as Bairstow ignites Bazball in the summer of 2022•Associated PressSuch comfort-giving has not been a one-way street. The first of Bairstow’s 12 Test hundreds came in the midst of a 399-run stand with Stokes, who finished on a career-best 258 from 198 balls and still credits his partner’s role in allowing him to go wilder than he ever thought possible. It’s not for nothing that Stokes acknowledges the touchpaper for his 2019 epic at Headingley was lit in the 86-run stand with Bairstow that had the hero of that piece as second-fiddle. Would Bazball even be a thing without Bairstow?Even as someone who wears disappointment so personally, Bairstow remains acutely aware of the things that count. Team-mates closest to him note how perceptive he is to their moods, particularly when they are not quite themselves and in need of a pick-up.When Bairstow had a scheduling conflict with a close friend’s wedding in Chepstow and Mark Wood’s in Northumberland, he saw no conflict at all. After the first celebration, Bairstow left south-east Wales at 1am, driving through the night to the north-east of England, arriving at 6:30am, getting an hour’s sleep before freshening up and donning a new suit for his team-mate’s big day.He is generous, too, whether hosting barbecues on the eve of Headingley internationals stocked with all the meat, booze and cigars you could want, or gifting souvenirs to fans, whether gloves, bats or simply time. On many occasions on this tour of India, he has broken security protocol and indulged local fans and hotel staff with selfies.Related

• Stats – Who has the best numbers after 100 Test caps?

• R Ashwin – a menace at home, and to lefties

• How Ravindra Jadeja can say no to no-balls

None of this changes the fact we are in the endgame of Bairstow as a Test cricketer. This is a number’s game in a high-performance industry, and at the back-end of a challenging series, this England team may need to move on to reach the next level.Even so, Bairstow joins an exclusive club having given so much to so many. He has been responsible for the kind of days England fans will hold dear forever. He has even contributed with absurdities ranging from bumping heads with Cameron Bancroft – one of the more hilariously overblown Ashes stoushes – to carrying off a Just Stop Oil protestor at Lord’s under one arm. All while treating Test cricket and his career with a heart that resonates the world over.Jonny Bairstow is, and always will be, a protagonist of English cricket at a time when it was thrilling and still trying to work out what it wanted to be. And when he has finished, when those who grew with him have grown old too, there may be some sadness that the memories Bairstow elicited were locked in those moments.His part in that journey will, ultimately, be his legacy. You cannot argue against the numbers but, geez, you just had to be there. To experience the best of him, and how he stirred souls simply by doing something he loved.Fundamentally, is that not what life, let alone cricket, is all about?