Jonny Bairstow celebrated an emotional hundred at the SCG on Friday, more than three years on from his last Test century.

Coming in to bat after England had fallen to 36-4, he finished the day unbeaten on 103 off 140 balls to leave his side on 258-7, trailing Australia’s first-innings total by 158 runs. In his press conference after the day’s play, Bairstow was clear in how much the knock had meant to him. “I’m absolutely over the moon to be honest with you,” said the 32-year-old.

For the Yorkshire batter it represents the end of a long drought. His sixth Test century came against Sri Lanka back in November 2018 when, having lost his spot as England’s gloveman to Ben Foakes, Bairstow responded with a knock of 110 as a specialist batter at No.3.

Nonetheless, instead of signalling in a new run-filled chapter in his Test career, Bairstow struggled thereafter. From the start of 2019 to the end of 2021, Bairstow played 19 Test matches and hit 725 runs in 36 innings at an average of 21.32, with his overall career average falling from 37.71 to 33.49.

He returned three half-centuries in that stop-start period, one which saw him in and out of the Test XI and thrust into different roles. After continuing as a No.3 for a couple more Test matches in the Caribbean at the start of 2019, Bairstow then took the gloves off Foakes at the end of that series against the West Indies, dropping down to No.7.

During the home summer that followed, he operated at Nos. 5, 6 and 7 but just one half-century in the Ashes saw him discarded for the tour of New Zealand in the winter, with Jos Buttler taking the role of keeper-batter. He did finish the year by making one appearance against South Africa at Centurion, but scores of 1 and 9 meant his career was brought to a halt once more.

One of the key talking points surrounding Bairstow in recent years has been in relation to how his rise as an ODI opener has coincided with diminishing returns in the longest form. In an article from April 2020, CricViz analyst Freddie Wilde detailed Bairstow’s struggles against pace and straight deliveries, highlighting how subtle technical tweaks in his white-ball approach had seeped into his red-ball game.

Wilde also pointed out that Bairstow retained a high average against spin, which perhaps explains why England went back to him at the start of 2021 for subcontinental tours of Sri Lanka and India. While finishing as England’s second-highest run-scorer in the series win over Sri Lanka, Bairstow recorded three ducks in four innings against India, prompting discussion over whether his Test career was over.

Nonetheless, he featured against India in the home summer, but numerous starts did not lead to a statement score, and he missed out to Ollie Pope at No.6 for the first two Tests of the ongoing series against Australia.

A fighting century in his second match back, however, is a hugely significant development in the context of England’s men’s Test side. Four Tests into the series, Bairstow is the first Englishman to have reached three figures and is the only man in the current set-up to have hit multiple Test centuries in Australia. Furthermore, since the start of 2020, he is only the third Englishman to have hit a Test century; the other two are Joe Root and Rory Burns, who currently finds himself outside of the XI.

It, therefore, seems almost certain that Bairstow’s Test career will continue beyond this Ashes series, with England’s next assignment away to the West Indies in March. What role he might take up seems up in the air though. In the past, he has made his love for wicketkeeping clear, and Buttler’s current struggles – the incumbent gloveman is averaging 16 in the series – could open the door to a return behind the stumps. The shadow of Foakes, widely regarded as England’s most gifted keeper, also looms large in this scenario. As a keeper, Bairstow averages 37.37; without the gloves, that falls to 29.18.

In the here and now, however, Bairstow will return to the crease on Saturday with the bat but also with a blow to the thumb from a Pat Cummins delivery to contend with. The batter was struck by a delivery from the Australia captain during his innings and with Buttler also struggling with a finger injury, Sam Billings has been called up as cover for the final Test of the series.

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