EVERYONE at Yorkshire is elated with Jonny Bairstow after he registered his maiden Test hundred at Cape Town, and now he can kick on in his international career.

Scoring a century is something that for any Test batsman is the ultimate achievement. Jonny has played 22 Tests and I’m sure that it’s probably played on his mind.

In the last year he’s showed a new sense of maturity with the lads and that was clear from his innings.

We are thrilled for him. I’ve sent him a message myself and the whole group are delighted for him.

One thing that was clear from Jonny’s celebrations was the emotion involved and personally it’s something that I can relate to.

I can remember the feelings from my first county hundred and I was overwhelmed by that, so I can imagine what was going through his mind.

For Jonny, his family and people who know him realise how much that moment will have meant to him. Hopefully this will be the kick-start for him to get a consistent run in the Test team.

With Ben Stokes smacking it to all parts, to be honest I thought Jonny was going to get out when I was watching the match as that’s the type of player he has been in the past. He’s so explosive and prior to the last six to 12 months he’d have made it a competition to hit the biggest six.

That’s testament to himself that he is that bit more mature now. He batted amazingly in the first innings and then backed it up on the final day.

He came in, and though he only got 30, in the context of the draw he showed maturity and that Jonny Bairstow, as an international cricketer, is coming to fruition.

It’s unlikely now that we’ll see much of him in a Yorkshire shirt. Though it’s a real shame for Yorkshire fans, for English cricket it’s really exciting.

I don’t think people have seen enough from Jonny at international level and hopefully this will be the innings that sees him performing consistently into the future.

In any sport fans can be fickle and there are doubters – as soon as you have a bad month you’re the worst player in the world. But I’m sure he’s proved a few of them wrong with this innings and he can go on to score consistently.

After the first Test I thought England would go on to win the series, but after South Africa’s fightback at Cape Town it looks like it will be tightly-contested. Obviously Hashim Amla has stepped down as captain and the team is a bit unsettled, but players can rally around at uncertain times.

South Africa will come back strong. They massively miss Dale Steyn but I think it will be a real close series. England have played some brilliant cricket, but they’ve also shown they are still vulnerable in a high-pressure situation, which will give something back to the home side mentally.

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