The Twelfth Man 2018

33 ‘Her life’s work has been Becky and me. She’s given our lives balance and structure. She’s taught us to treat everyone decently and equally. Our sense of spirit and our guts come from her…’ The Prologue to the book centre’s on a pivotal moment in Jonny’s career to date; his thoughts and feelings just before he reached his maiden Test century at Cape Town, January 3rd 2016. It would be the start of record-breaking year for the Yorkshire and England keeper/batsman. He pays due tribute to his development and improvement as a wicket-keeper to Bruce French and recalls a freezing cold, depressing March day in front of an empty Western Terrace at Headingley working hard with Bruce on the mechanics of keeping. It is often the unseen work that spectators and scribes fail to note, forget or ignore, but which defines the very best sportsmen and women. Clearly an influence, and an early hero, was Rugby’s Jonny Wilkinson. In this 300-plus page tome, Jonny and Duncan have woven together so many fond memories and reflections of David Bairstow – ‘‘Bluey’ was an institution in Yorkshire’ reads one sentence – indeed he was. How proud he would have been in 2011 when Jonny received his Yorkshire cap at his beloved Scarborough (‘The Kingdom by the Sea’ as Chapter 5 is titled). ‘There were two moments I’ve always wished my dad had been alive to see. That was the first of them’, writes Jonny. The second? His Test debut at Lord’s; his father having been so proud of his own England appearance at the ‘Home of Cricket’ in the largely rain-ruined Centenary Test of 1980. One hopes that for Jonny, and his family, compiling this book has been a cathartic exercise. If you read a section on pages 298-99 you’d come to that conclusion: ‘Of course, he’s [his father] never far from my thoughts no matter where I am or what I’m doing. A place, a game, an incident somewhere or an unexpected word from someone can trigger a memory, which then triggers another, and suddenly I’m thinking about him, if only for a minute or two. But for this book I’ve been going over the last 20 years in the way you might slowly turn the pages of a family album, finding in it photos, cuttings and mementos that you’d either half-forgotten or didn’t know you had. I’ve been putting the past and my reactions to it in order, I suppose, and I’ve also been giving them some shape. Sorting out the way things were. Dwelling on what I’ve made of them. Working out the life lessons. Wondering whether sharing what I’ve experienced can help or inspire or simply be a small comfort to anyone else. I hope it will be.’ Looking to the future – let us hope that there is much cricket, and a good number of glory days, still ahead for Jonny Bairstow – as an England player and back with his beloved White Rose County. For those cricket followers of a certain vintage what a pleasure and delight it has been to enjoy watching David Bairstow and now his gifted son on the cricket fields of England and abroad. And remember Jonny, when you finally get time, there’s a bunch of cricket awards waiting for you to collect at Wombwell. A Clear Blue Sky by Jonny Bairstow & Duncan Hamilton Reviewed by Mick Pope