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It’s all Adam Gilchrist’s fault.
Ever since Gilchrist entered the international fray and created a new mould for the archetypal wicketkeeper, the search has been on to find those who can offer the same level of world-class glovework and batting, especially the batting, in the same package.
A tough gig, given Gilchrist was one of a kind, but that hasn’t stopped all and sundry from trying their level best to find a replica.
Anyway, I like Jonny Bairstow. I don’t know him – I’ve met him once (I think) and played in the same team as his older brother 20 years ago – so I’m not going to claim any kind of in-depth friendship but, nevertheless, I like the Yorkshireman.
I admire the way he plays the game and I’ve plenty of time for the way he has transformed himself from the talented yet obviously flawed batsman of a couple of years ago into the one you see laying waste to all in front of him at this moment in time.
And there is plenty to be said for the way he carries himself with nothing in the way of ego or arrogance, just a bloke making the most of the opportunities that have been presented.
The way he’s been playing this summer it would be too easy to run out of superlatives for his batting so I’ll stop right there.
But, but, but…
His wicketkeeping, while hardly the scrambled mess some claim it to be, is, how to put it nicely, still a work in progress.
The adage of a good wicketkeeper hardly being noticed, unfortunately for the man in possession, can’t be used because Bairstow is making a habit of squandering chances and when that occurs, the man with the gloves on is everything but invisible.
The straightforward drop off Chris Woakes in the Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s last week was the latest and, come to think of it, easiest of the few he has grassed in recent months. The talk has now turned to how his position behind the stumps will be reviewed ahead of the Pakistan series which kicks off next month.
That’s how it should be as every team, however good they may be, has to constantly strive for improvement. It is hardly going out on a limb to suggest the England team would be better off with somebody else behind the stumps.
If they do make a change and relieve Bairstow of the gauntlets it is likely that Jos Buttler will resume his Test career and take over the number seven slot with the former shifting easily to the middle order.
The main issue with this way of thinking is that Buttler is yet to convince as a Test cricketer and while he is undoubtedly talented – you can’t bat the way he can in limited-over games without an abundance of natural ability – as a wicketkeeper he, like Bairstow, is far from the finished article.
He is better with the gloves but in the five-day format he isn’t a patch on Bairstow with a bat in his hand. And therein lies the rub.
If you select your wicketkeeper on the grounds that he can bat then you have to risk the inevitable compromise which is, or at least should be, clear for all to see.
Is that being harsh or too cynical? I’m not sure it is.
The reality of longer form cricket in 2016, as has been the case for a few years now, is that wicketkeeping comes secondary to the number of runs accumulated or at least promised.
Without a great deal of effort, it would be fairly easy to name a handful of county wicketkeepers better at that particular part of their trade than both Bairstow and Buttler. But you won’t find any with more batting ability than the first of those named and few who could better the second.
England, when Ben Stokes returns from injury, could comfortably accommodate a specialist wicketkeeper given the fact Moeen Ali at number eight allows a five-man attack to be fielded without detracting from the top order. But I’d bet my bottom dollar this scenario isn’t given the time of day by the selection panel.
If it isn’t Bairstow behind the stumps when the first Test gets underway against Pakistan then it will be Buttler and vice versa. Runs are the currency and if it means the odd catch goes down then so be it.
After all, you reap what you sow.