AN EMPHATIC "yes" is Jonny Bairstow's answer to whether or not he wants to don the gloves for England – the conundrum that has seemingly hung over the York star throughout his career.

With a breadth of wicketkeeping talent at the disposal of Trevor Bayliss and the selectors, it was perhaps thought York's Bairstow would be best served refining his batting rather than trying to master two art forms.

He certainly looks to be enjoying a purple patch in front of the stumps, combining two huge Specsavers County Championship scores for Yorkshire – 246 and 196 – with a knock of 140 to help England to an emphatic victory over Sri Lanka at Headingley in the opener of the three-Test series.

That victory also saw him take nine catches, before a first-innings score of 48 and a further seven snaffles helped Bairstow give England a series-winning 2-0 lead against Sri Lanka.

The Yorkshire star insists he has put in the hard yards for far too long to compromise and said: "I wouldn't have worked so hard for so long if I didn't want the gloves.

"There's a lot of pain and energy that goes into working so hard on that skill, so whether or not I want to be keeping wicket is something that needs to be written off.

"I have done it for Yorkshire for six years and now is the time for people to stop asking me if I want to keep wicket. I wouldn't have done it for so long if I didn't want to do it.

"Everyone is still looking to prove everything. Whether you have played one game or 125 games, you are still looking to make statements to prove things.

"I'm pleased with the way things have started – but it's a long season ahead."

Bairstow has helped county champions Yorkshire reach the top of the table again – but misses their Royal London Cup opener after joining up with England.

The Vikings kick-off their campaign against Worcestershire on home turf this afternoon.

They are set to take on Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Lancashire before the end of the month, followed by matches with Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and 2014 winners Durham before concluding against Warwickshire.

The top four teams in each group will reach the quarter-final stage, with the ultimate goal being a place in the final at Lord's on September 17.

Bairstow believes it is hard to pick a winner but sees no reason why Yorkshire cannot be among the front-runners.

"There are a lot of very strong teams and it's an open competition, so literally anyone could win," said 26-year-old Bairstow.

"I'm pretty sure at the start of last season not many people would have said Gloucestershire would win it – but everyone can beat everyone in this competition on their day.

"That's what makes it exciting. You have got to be on your game all the way through the competition and when it comes to those latter stages, it's a knockout competition. If you're off for an hour or even a couple of overs, you can get knocked out.

"It was a good stepping stone last year to get to the semis and then we didn't play our best cricket in that semi-final.

"Gloucestershire were deserved winners, and they'll be challenging again, but I don't see why we can't go one step further this year."

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