Headingley ton top of Bairstow’s bucket list

Cricket365
May 23, 2016

England and Yorkshire wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow says his main ambition in the upcoming months is to score a Test century at his home ground, Headingley, where he feels most at home.

Bairstow is part of a long legacy in Leeds, with his father also playing for Yorkshire, and while maiden Test ton was scored in Cape Town and it was a proud day, he's eager to get one on the books at home.

Bairstow, who will play against Sri Lanka at Headingley this month, said in the Daily Mail: "Scoring a Test century at Headingley would be at the top of my bucket list.

"Yorkshire are a special club and Headingley is a special place. I think it’s the history and heritage that makes it like that.

"Growing up throughout the age groups you had to wear your blazer for lunch and really had to earn your stripes. There are always stepping stones right up from Under 11s and the core values remain the same all the way through.

"Someone like Joe Root will be treated no different when he comes back from England than a lad who’s just come up from the second team.

"When you drive through the gates and see the pictures on the walls of the great players you realise what an amazing place it is."

He also said that the current Test side, featuring the country's leading run getter and wicket taker, is a formidable one right now, and is confident of coming up trumps in the three-match series.

Bairstow added: "There are some fantastic younger players then at the same time you have the leading wicket-taker in England’s history in Jimmy Anderson and the leading runscorer in Alastair Cook.

"We're playing a good brand of cricket that people want to see and if we can keep on doing that, starting against Sri Lanka at Headingley this week, hopefully supporters will get behind us more and more."