Jonny Bairstow was last year shown by a study to be the busiest man in international cricket, racking up 91 days on the field for England in Tests, ODIs and T20s.
He was not, however, one of the stars given a break for this week’s T20 series against West Indies and, when he smashed a T20 international best of 68 opening the batting to win the first match in St Lucia, he was glad of it.
“I look at it as another opportunity to play cricket for England,” he said. “Hopefully I stay fit, strong and healthy. It was 91 days last year and it’s going to be similar this year.
“Long winters and long summers. It’s exciting.”
Having restricted West Indies’ to 160, captain Eoin Morgan felt the bowlers were England’s matchwinners.
There were four wickets for Tom Curran and two for Chris Jordan, but he reserved special praise for Adil Rashid.
Morgan said: “Adil’s a big asset for us.”