York cricket ace Jonny Bairstow tipped for the very top

9:23am Wednesday 17th March 2010

By Graham Hardcastle

Gerard Brophy is backing Yorkshire wicketkeeping rival Jonny Bairstow to “go all the way”.

And the South African, currently the number one gloveman at Headingley, declared he will do all he can to help the York ace achieve his goal.

Brophy believes the 21-year-old is on course to follow in the footsteps of his late father, David, should he build on a stellar breakthrough summer in 2009.

“If he settles down and has another good year, he’ll be putting his hand up for all kinds of things,” said Brophy, 34, who is fighting his way back to full fitness after surgery on his right ankle earlier this winter.

“He’s a young guy, and has been working hard with Bruce French as a wicketkeeper with the England youth programme.

“If you work hard enough, want it badly enough, and are prepared to put the hours in, you can improve. The way things are now, you’ve got to be a ’keeper who bats. You only to have to look at how Kieswetter is putting pressure on Matt Prior because of his batting.

“Jonny’s a good young talent. He’s still got a bit to learn, but he’s exceptional. If he works hard, there’s nothing stopping him going all the way.

“I’ll help him and try to show him as much as I can because I’ve had a good career. I’m by no means finished, but I’m keen to help him.

“I’ve just signed a new two-year deal, and I think the idea is to bleed Jonny in over a period of time with the gloves.”

Bairstow will be behind the sticks for today’s two-day friendly against Derbyshire at the 3 Ws Oval in Barbados because Brophy is about a week away from full fitness.

The ex-Northants man is hoping to be available to play some part in the latter stages of the tour having spent the last two days training with the squad.

He explained: “I went over on it with about six weeks of last season left. We decided just to rest it for a couple of months to see if it would heal. It didn’t, and it was actually getting worse.

“The tendon in my ankle had badly deteriorated, so they basically tore it up, cleaned it up, then sewed it back together.

“I got the pot off about five or six weeks ago. It’s still not 100 per cent, but I hope towards next week I’ll be able to start playing.”

The Twenty20 matches at the weekend or the 40-over matches on Monday and Tuesday would seem the ideal time to return.