Yorkshire's wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow has been voted the 2011 Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year, and my congratulations to him. While the leading run-scorers and wicket-takers in domestic cricket were no spring chickens (Trescothick, Masters, Adams, Richardson et al), there are plenty of talented youngsters in England, some of whom have this year broken through at international level.
In a way, it is a shame that there are no current vacancies in the Test squad, as they seem to be doing very nicely, thank you! However, the ODI and T20 fixtures have offered some of the newer faces a chance to shine on the international stage. The 2009 winner James Taylor has made it only to the Lions captaincy and must have come close to beating Ravi Bopara to the number six batting berth towards the end of the India series. However, England is awash with promising stars in all positions.
Alex Hales (aged 22) made his international debut in a T20 (with a duck!) but he averages over 40 in first-class cricket and, provided he doesn't get too wrapped up in the biff-bang stuff, is a potential Test opener or number three. Rory Hamilton-Brown is only just turned 24 and he showed great maturity in leading Surrey to the CB40 trophy, and his team-mate Jason Roy (21) is a very stroke-maker in limited-over cricket, too. Ben Stokes (20) had a terrific season in 2010 but only made his debut in ODIs this summer. However, I would argue that he is better suited to the first-class game where he averages 44 with five hundreds already. I suppose his medium pace bowling option gives him the edge for a place in one-dayers.
The current vogue for T20 has enabled a raft of young spinners to emerge in recent years. Last year it was Danny Briggs and Simon Kerrigan, although the latter made a vital contribution to Lancashire's late surge to this summer's County Championship. This year it was the turn of Durham's Scott Borthwick (21). As with Stokes and Hales, his elevation to England status came in a form to which he is arguably less well equipped, i.e. 50-over cricket. His statistics look notably better in first-class matches, with both bat and ball. Indeed, he scored a debut hundred earlier this season. Seamer Chris Woakes (still only 22) was another who burst upon the county scene last year with some impressive wicket-taking, allied to late-order hitting. He debuted against Australia last winter, taking the wicket of Michael Clarke, but injury spoiled his 2011 summer and prevented following in Steven Finn's footsteps to win the Young Cricketer award. I still think Woakes is a better prospect than Dernbach and Finn because of his all-round game. He already has more than 200 first-class wickets to his name, at an average under 25, and five centuries. That's arguably more impressive than Stuart Broad's figures, and I look forward to the Warwickshire player getting his chance in the Test team.
Where England seems to be awash with talent is in the wicketkeeper berth. There have been plenty of more senior players who have represented their country and, with Matt Prior the Test incumbent, are still doing sterling service for their counties. Foster, Read,Jones and Mustard spring to mind. However, Craig Kieswetter is fast becoming an ODI veteran at 23 while his Somerset colleague Jos Buttler (barely 21) followed an impressive 2010 with T20 performances which finally won him a T20I place against India. He has a phenomenal strike rate in limited-overs cricket and a deserved reputation as a ruthless 'finisher'. He has yet to show the same potential in the first-class game but his innings in the CB40 Final showed he possesses the maturity which could lend itself to developing him as a fine all-round batsman. As I've written before, he seems a level-headed nice guy off the pitch, too.
That brings me to Jonny Bairstow. He enjoyed a great run of scores for Yorkshire in the early part of the domestic season, including a brisk and brash 205. He is also one of several prominent redheads on the scene at the moment, about the only thing I share with him, Bell and Stokes! He has since made the big gloves his own, batting at number four or five, and seized his opportunity in last week's ODI debut by scoring 41 in 21 balls to steer England to victory. Kieswetter was behind the stumps for England on this occasion and I can see the international side boasting Bairstow and both Somerset 'keepers in the coming years. Only one can wear the gloves but at least there will be some useful men in the outfield, too. Like Ryan Sidebottom, Jonny is a son of a Yorkshire legend and another 'keeper. However, his batting looks more solid and already boasts a first-class average of 45. If he can maintain his 2011 form into the winter and beyond, he will be a formidable player indeed.
