England v West Indies: Jonny Bairstow has to improve to survive but he has star quality Jonny found out the realities of Test cricket very quickly at Trent Bridge on Sunday when he faced a genuine fast bowler in Kemar Roach who bowled with aggression, real pace and accuracy to give him a working over. His first two balls were gloved and could have gone anywhere. After that he played pretty well. He moved his feet, got deep in the crease, and moved back and high in the air to keep the bouncer down. Finally he succumbed to a short ball when he tried to turn it too square to leg, moved into the shot too soon and got a leading edge to mid-on. After he was out the stump microphone picked up the England captain, Andrew Strauss, telling the new batsman, Matt Prior, the ball came off the pitch slow. In other words Jonny played too early. That is Test cricket. But because he has had a working over from a fast bowler, when he comes in to bat in the next Test he will get another working over. The West Indies will not forget that. Today, with so much television footage and computer analysis, coaches around the world will be watching to see how he reacts next time. It is hard for kids to practise against fast bowling if there are no quicks around. All you can do is go in the nets and face the bowling machine. But it is not like playing in the middle. The best method I found is to get good club seamers and let them bowl through the crease so they are bowling from 20 yards and bang the ball in short of a length. That is the practice I gave the England lads at Headingley in the winter of 1989 before Graham Gooch's team went to the West Indies in 1990. One thing, he cannot bat against quicks without an arm guard. The first two balls he received in his two innings in Test cricket, one hit him in the chest, the other on the glove. If they hit him on the left forearm they could break his arm or leave it so badly bruised it would be difficult to carry on batting. I believe Jonny is the most talented young batsman in England. He has a wide array of strokes. He can hit the ball powerfully, he is a competitive individual and I think he is dead lucky as well because he has got a bit of charismatic appeal. I am not surprised England picked him when Ravi Bopara was injured although I thought it might be another few months or more before he got his chance. But you can't choose when you play for England. You have to grab that chance with both hands. So far he has not been able to do that. But in some ways it is a good thing that he has not been highly successful straight away. I played with guys who scored a hundred in their first Test match and were tipped for fantastic careers. But some only played a handful of Tests. John Hampshire made 107 against the West Indies at Lord's 1969 and Frank Hayes made 106 not out against the West Indies at the Oval in 1973 but both faded away. Yet one of the greatest batsmen and most iconic players of all time, Len Hutton, made nought in his first innings for Yorkshire and nought for England. He finished up doing OK. We have all had problems from time to time. And you have to solve the problem otherwise it stalks your Test career. In my first Test match in 1964 Australia's Grahame Corling got me out for 48 and in my second match he dismissed me for 38 and four. I knew that for the next Test he would open the bowling because they thought I had a problem against him. They were right. I did. It was up to me to solve it, which I did. In the last Test at the Oval I made my first hundred. Jonny will have to do exactly the same thing. It won't get easier even if he does well at Edgbaston. South Africa have the best bowler in the world in Dale Steyn while Morne Morkel is tall, fast and gets bounce. Good Test cricket is tough. It is improve, survive or fail. That is why it is so much better than Twenty20 or 50-over cricket. It is a test of character, courage and not just your ability. Jonny's father was a big friend of mine but when it comes to cricket I never allow personal feelings to interfere with my professional judgement. I am not biased. But I think that even if he fails next week, he will be back because for me he has got star quality.