England Cricket / Ralph Ellis / 14 October 2011 /

Jonny Bairstow is English cricket's hot new property, so Betfair went to see Yorkshire's director of cricket Martyn Moxon to find out more about him - and ended up debating how counties have to deal with losing the talent they develop

Hi Martyn - so people are very excited about Jonny Bairstow but it is probably not such news to you.
No, since he started playing first team cricket for us we've seen from the beginning he's got an immense amount of natural talent. He did well in 2010 in his first full season, but this year he has taken it on and got a double hundred in the Championship and a one-day ton too.

It's always a dangerous question with young players, but how good can he be?
Potentially? Something really special. A hundred in 50 balls the other day says it all - it doesn't matter what the competition was. What's exciting is that as in the likes of Botham and Pietersen there's a sound technique and style behind the way he strikes the ball. He hits the ball so cleanly and without too much effort. He'll hit balls for boundaries that mere mortals would be glad to push for one.

He'll suddenly have expectations on him with England now though. What is his temperament like to handle that?
I think his improvement this year has come because he's been more composed. That's a good sign. Like any young man there are times when the red mist descends, but that's happening less and less. More important is that he showed right from his first game in Cardiff that he enjoys the occasion, and that's probably the most important thing in moving from the county game to international cricket. If you are nervous about big crowds you can't perform. I think he relishes the stage.

Bairstow is not the only young one in India now as there's also Chris Woakes and Scott Borthwick, while Jos Buttler and Alex Hales are there for the Twenty20 games. What are your views on how England are promoting young talent?
There's a difficult balance between winning here and now and getting a production line for the future, and I think England are handling that well. You want to avoid the situation where you have a top side who all retire at the same time, and there's nobody with the experience to replace them. Instead they are introducing the youngsters to a winning team which will help them progress.

Mind you there's a lot of young talent coming through Yorkshire, it can't be by chance...
It's a tradition here to give our own players an opportunity. It doesn't mean we're not ambitious, but like most counties we have an Academy and it's our policy where we can to give those players the room to develop.

You've got Joe Root, Adil Rashid and Gary Balance, and didn't Barney Gibson become the youngest ever county cricketer earlier this summer?
To be fair it was a Durham University game, and it was the only chance to rest our two senior keepers so it came at the right time for them and Barney, but yes - he might be 15 but he's full of talent and he showed he could perform at a county level.

We don't like to mention the R word, but what effect might relegation have on them?
It's not something we wanted, that's for sure. We know we had opportunities to win a number of games but through a mixture of carelessness and maybe immaturity let that slip. But if we learn our lessons we can be a better team for it and hopefully the youngsters will mature.

How does it work from the county point of view, developing players then losing them to England? It seems like there is an incentive to produce players who are not quite good enough?
I think you are right. From a purely selfish point of view there's a lot of truth in that. It's a bizarre fact of our game.

You get compensation. Would you rather have the cash or the players still with you?
From a selfish point of view, to win trophies for Yorkshire, I'd like to have the players. It's difficult because there has always been a dual role for counties to produce England cricketers and the ECB hand out millions of pounds to the counties as part of the deal for us to do that. But it is frustrating at times. You are always having to think ahead - already we are putting our minds to how we cover Jonny Bairstow. You have to think two steps ahead.

And what about the IPL? Bairstow could be in demand for that when the auctions come in December.
Yes, and the counties get absolutely no compensation for that. It all goes to the player. It's a very awkward situation because nobody wants to deny a player the chance to earn that kind of money, it is life changing money. But for the counties to lose somebody for up to six weeks is tough on us

It happens at a crucial time too?
Absolutely right. It's pretty much half the County Championship season, we are playing half of that by the end of May these days. It is a big chunk and there is a lot working against you.

So should counties get a percentage of the player's money?
I guess it would appear fair. You are going to have to employ somebody to cover the time he is away. The IPL hasn't affected that many English players so far, you are only talking three or four. If it becomes more like the Australians where you have double figures involved, and given the way young England players are developing it could well happen, it might be different. That could bring that kind of compensation thing to a head.

Thanks for your time and we've a free £50 bet for a favourite charity.
I'm a patron of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, so that's the charity. I'd like to back my football club Barnsley at Portsmouth this weekend but I want a bet that will win! I'm going to play absolutely safe and back New Zealand to beat Australia in the World Cup semi-final. The odds may be just [1.47], but I'm off the old school that a short price winner is better than a long odds chance that loses.

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