Jonny Bairstow insists his batting position is irrelevant as he tries to help England defend their T20 World Cup after missing out in 2022 with extensive leg surgery

Jonny Bairstow insists his batting position is irrelevant as he attempts to make up for the pain of missing the 2022 World Cup win by defending England’s Twenty20 title in the Caribbean and United States.

Chiefly due to the excellence of Phil Salt in last December’s 3-2 defeat to West Indies, the 34-year-old Bairstow finds himself back at no 4 in the preferred line-up of Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott.

‘I’ve batted all over. It doesn’t really matter to me where I bat. It’s actually a compliment that Jos and Motty think I’ve got the skillset to bat at four,’ he said.

‘I’ve done it a lot. Whether it’s opening the batting or batting at four, to be able to recall your skills even in Test cricket is exactly what you have to do through the middle.’

Statistics actually suggest England are better equipped with the Yorkshireman coming in two wickets down in T20 internationals: Thursday evening’s unbeaten 28 to seal victory over Pakistan at the Oval was his 20th innings in such a scenario and took his average to 34.07; on the 20 occasions he has begun against the new ball it is 29.7.

He missed out on a place in England’s successful 2022 team because of extensive leg surgery

Salt’s blistering back-to-back hundreds against the Windies settled any argument over Buttler’s opening partner for this tournament – his career strike rate of 166.74 is not only vastly superior to that of Bairstow (137.77) but also to all but India’s Suryakumar Yadav amongst major nation batters.

And Bairstow settled in Barbados on Saturday, having taken England to a seven-wicket victory and soggy 2-0 series win over Pakistan at the Oval on Thursday alongside county colleague Harry Brook, acknowledging: ‘It’s important to get into the rhythm of finishing games off.’

Rhythm has been lacking from his game in 2024, although suggestions he could have unearthed some by returning home early from the Indian Premier League instead of spending a 13-day stint warming the bench for Punjab were met by a typically bristling response and a two-finger salute of a hundred upon recall in April.

And it is credit to his determination that he is having another shot at adding to his 50-over World Cup winner’s medal after the operation to repair his extensive leg injuries following a freak golfing accident in September 2022 was compared to ‘putting Humpty Dumpty back together,’ by his surgeon.

Bairstow settled in Barbados having taken England to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan

‘Look, I missed out with an injury. It’s part and parcel of life,’ Bairstow matter-of-factly said.

‘But yeah, I want to be a part of winning another World Cup for England.’