ENG vs NZ: Jonny Bairstow ready for England’s ‘new journey’

ENG vs NZ: Jonny Bairstow is looking forward to England‘s “new voyage” against New Zealand this week at Lord’s.

Bairstow only returned from his stint with Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League on Monday, and he has yet to play red ball cricket this season.

However, the wicketkeeper-batsman instantly joined Ben Stokes’ team ahead of the first Test on Thursday.

Bairstow is eager to get a feel for the new England Test captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, who have just begun their reign.

“I don’t want a rest. I’ve never been one for resting when there’s opportunities to play for England,” Bairstow told reporters on Monday.

“It is extremely special and that has always been my goal, to play for England as long as I can. Lord’s is a fantastic place for us to be to start the new journey, it all begins on Thursday and it should be great fun. It’s exciting.”

McCullum returned to Lord’s on Monday for the first time since the New Zealander captained the Black Caps team that lost to England in the 50-over World Cup final in 2019.

Bairstow was an integral part of the white-ball revolution and is excited to be a part of McCullum’s red-ball transformation.

“Brendon is someone I’ve always wanted to work with. He’s someone I’ve played against and grown up watching and was very intrigued by,” he said.

“He’s someone I’ve looked up to in many ways for the way he went about his cricket. I’m really excited about the prospect of hopefully working with him for a long period of time.

“The experience he has got, playing all those games for New Zealand and his coaching experience he’s got, he can bring that to the guys.

“I’m sure there’ll be things that rub off within the environment within the next weeks, months and years. There’s a lot of positivity around the group, first and foremost.”

The post ENG vs NZ: Jonny Bairstow ready for England’s ‘new journey’ appeared first on CricTelegraph.