Jonny Bairstow hopes England's 50-over performances can inspire T20I side
It was a case of ‘so close yet so far’ for the Black Caps when they succumbed to their second successive ICC World Cup final loss at the hands of England at Lord’s. The 2015-defeat to Australia was believable as poor cricket in the most important match of their lives resulted in a comprehensive loss. However, what happened in this year’s edition would definitely not have gone down well with the players who would be keen on vengeance when England's tour of New Zealand starts.
England have rested most of their top players for the T20I series but England batsman Jonny Bairstow believes that New Zealand will have that on their mind when they come out all guns blazing at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. He said:
"They're dangerous no matter what… We'll be expecting a very tough challenge and that's every time you play against New Zealand because they've got quality all the way through. They are a great bunch of fellas but naturally what happened at Lord's is going to be quite tough for those guys and there will be a fire in their belly and a hunger to put things right.''
Bairstow is hopeful that historic performances during summer will inspire the T20I side as well. According to the Yorkshire batsman, young, inexperienced players fresh from a county season will take-away loads of cricketing knowledge from this tour and will hopefully create more competition for places in the national side. Jonny stated:
"I think it does feel like the start of that journey towards the T20 World Cup… It's going to come around thick and fast. Seeing guys who've played county cricket taking the step up to international cricket is going to be fascinating. That, coupled with the guys that are not on this tour but will come back into the team, there's going to be competition for places.”
"The cycle for the 50-over World Cup started four years ago. Hopefully, we're fortunate enough that the way we've played our 50-over cricket will lead us well into our T20 cricket.”
Jonny Bairstow also said that players participating in domestic leagues all over the world would impact the next generation of cricketers as they will be exposed to high pressure-situations at a different level altogether. He explained:
"You've got guys playing T20 in competitions around the world whether that be the Indian Premier League, Big Bash or whatever it may be, so I'm not too sure it's going to make too much of a difference… Then you've got the Hundred that's starting next year so that's an even shorter format that will allow people to put their skills on a show to potentially push for that squad.''
Jonny Bairstow scored 78* to help England beat New Zealand XI by six wickets in their first warm-up game. The England team is scheduled to play five T20Is and two Tests in what will be a month-long tour of New Zealand.
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