I Will Be Trying To Play All Forms For As Long As Possible - Jonny Bairstow

England keeper-batter Jonny Bairstow has said that unlike his teammate Ben Stokes, who recently retired from ODI cricket to prolong his career in the other two formats, he will continue to play in all three forms of the game for as long as possible.

Ben Stokes, 31, recently shocked the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from ODI cricket and played his final match at his home ground in Durham against South Africa. He finished with 2924 runs and 74 wickets in 105 ODIs with 3 centuries, the best score of 102*, and best bowling figures of 5/61.

Stokes had cited an unsustainable schedule as the major reason behind him quitting the ODI format, despite a 50-over World cup coming up in 2023 where England will try to defend their title.

I Will Be Going All Out For As Long As I Can: Jonny Bairstow

Meanwhile, his teammate, Jonny Bairstow,32, is keen to remain an ‘all-format’ player for England and reiterated his willingness to represent England in all the three formats.

“Naturally there are challenges, we’ve seen that over a period of time now. We only have to look at the Tests this summer where there was a one-day squad over in Holland at the same time. Even at the back-end of this summer, there are the seven T20s in Pakistan that pretty much overlap with the last Test match [against South Africa].

But you know me well enough to know that I will be trying to play all forms for as long as possible. I will be going all out for as long as I can. There might come a time that, for different reasons, you do have to make a decision but that’s part of life and part and parcel of cricket. In the near future, I don’t see myself making a choice. I love being part of all three squads,” Bairstow told Michael Atherton on Sky Sports.

Bairstow further called ODIs a stepping stone to Test cricket and stressed that he still loves the format – and warned of the risks of young players only committing to the “rollercoaster” of T20 cricket.

“I think it is a really good format. I also think that 50-over cricket is in some ways a stepping stone into Test cricket. You get worked over for longer, you sometimes have to grind out difficult periods and play good cricket shots. The middle overs, especially are a lot like Test cricket,” he added.

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