Jonny Bairstow has said that he prizes his Test career above all else. His comments come as James Anderson, England’s leading Test wicket-taker of all-time, expressed his fears for the future of the format.
Bairstow, England’s one-day international opener and Test wicketkeeper, excels in all versions – as 62 white-ball appearances for his country demonstrate. But 50 Test caps stand most proud for the 28-year-old, who sees the obvious threat from Twenty20 franchise competitions to the well-being of the longest format.

“If we’re not careful, there are going to be more and more people [giving up red-ball cricket],” he said. “You’ve got lucrative tournaments to go off for five weeks and earn a heck of a lot of money with the strain and stress on the body of bowling only fours overs comparative to 24 in a day in Test cricket.”
Anderson concurred with that assessment, telling BBC Sport: “The way that cricket is going and the amount of Twenty20 cricket that there is around the world, there is that worry that more and more people will start doing it. I just hope and pray there is enough love for Test cricket out there, not just the players that are playing at the moment but players coming through still having the ambition and drive to play Test cricket in the future.”
Bairstow put himself in the auction for this year’s Indian Premier League but did not land a deal. Had he done so, Bairstow would not have missed any England engagements – unlike Alex Hales and Adil Rashid, who cannot press Test claims while playing only limited-overs.

“I won’t be going down that route just yet – we can put that to bed for the next few years at least,” Bairstow said. “We need to back individuals’ decisions … you can’t force people into playing things. But I want to play all formats for England – I have put a lot of time and effort into white and red-ball cricket over a long period of time to get into the teams and play for England. That’s what I want to do for a long time.”
In the immediate term, Bairstow will be helping England’s bid for a 2-1 lead in Saturday’s third ODI against New Zealand in Wellington.
He will be fit despite having twisted his ankle when, in a moment he likens to Glenn McGrath’s injury warming up at Edgbaston in the 2005 Ashes, he stepped on his own water bottle while fielding on the boundary in Wednesday’s win at Mount Maunganui.