England batsman Jonny Bairstow was a happy man despite missing out on a maiden Test century against South Africa at Lord's.
Yorkshireman denied century but satisfied with his big innings
England batsman Jonny Bairstow was a happy man despite missing out on a maiden Test century against South Africa at Lord's.
The Yorkshireman, recalled to the side as a result of Kevin Pietersen's controversial omission, made 95 before being bowled by Morne Morkel as England scored 315.
He told Sky Sports "It's the big innings I wanted, I'm pretty pleased with the way it's gone. It didn't go as well as I'd have liked against the West Indies and to come back here with 95 is fantastic."
Particularly impressive was the way Bairstow dealt with short-pitched bowling, a weakness identified by the Windies which Morkel and Dale Steyn were keen to exploit.
And Bairstow credited his work with former England batsman Graham Thorpe with helping to improve that aspect of his game.
"It was just about going back to Yorkshire and to the Lions and working on all aspects, the strengths, the weaknesses, and come back hopefully a stronger package," he said.
Tweak
"I worked on a few things with Thorpey, looked at a couple of aspects to quicken things up and tweak a few little things.
"There's no massive changes, the strengths are still there and I've just worked on my weaknesses."
Bairstow was marooned in the 90s for a prolonged period, scoring just one run in his last 40 minutes at the crease.
"I wasn't changing my mindset at all," he said. "I just pushed through (the ball from Morkel), which I hadn't been doing and it proved to be my downfall.
"I'm pleased with 95, I'm desperately disappointed to miss out on the maiden hundred but hopefully there'll be many more opportunities."
Looking ahead to the remainder of the match, Bairstow added: "There's two days to go, it's a heck of a lot of cricket.
"There's already been 24 wickets in three days, I don't see why we can't get the last seven and then chase down a total.
"It was hard work and at the end we've come out with a bit of a reward with the wicket of (Jacques) Kallis."
