DHAKA: He’s already become the most prolific wicket-keeping/batsman in a calendar year and with six Tests still to go, Jonny Bairstow has the opportunity to set a record beyond reach — and silence his critics once and for all.

“It’s a pretty amazing feeling,” said England’s Bairstow as he reflected on his achievement in shattering Andy Flower’s 16-year record for most runs by a gloveman in Test match cricket.

“There were a few mumbles floating around that I wasn’t good enough,” he admitted ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh which begins on Friday. “You go back maybe two years and there are people writing you off to never play Test cricket again, [so] to then come back and prove a few people wrong with the way that I’ve been playing...”

The sentence was left unfinished but the normally self-effacing Yorkshireman is understandably proud of his achievements since the turn of the year, both with the bat and the gloves.

During the first Test in Chittagong, Bairstow surged past Flower’s tally of 1,045 runs in a calendar year during a match-winning partnership with Ben Stokes.

It leaves him just 390 runs short of Michael Vaughan’s tally of 1,481 runs in 2002, the record for the most runs by any Englishman from January to December.

With England due to embark on a five-Test tour of India straight after the second Bangladesh Test, Bairstow should have ample opportunity to chase down that record.

The volume of cricket means selectors are likely to rotate players but Bairstow will resist any offer of a rest, especially given how hard he has fought to regain his place after being dropped following England’s disastrous tour to Australia three winters ago.

Bairstow has also taken 53 dismissals in his 11 Tests behind the stumps so far this year, more than any of his peers.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2016