England’s wicket-keeper/batsman Jonny Bairstow is unperturbed at the prospect of facing Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir again in the two-Test series starting here at Lord’s next week.
Amir, who burst on to the scene with his brilliant left-arm pace and swing eight years ago in England, took his 100th Test wicket to help Pakistan on the way to the hard-earned victory they completed over Ireland in Dublin on Tuesday.
A 5-year ban over his part in the 2010 Lord’s spot-fixing controversy stopped Amir in his tracks, of course — but on his comeback tour of England in 2016, there were still signs of the wonderful skills with which he had lit up world cricket as a teenager. Bairstow succumbed just once, in the final Test at The Oval, and Amir finished the four-match series with 12 wickets at an unflattering 42 each as luck largely evaded him. Dawn