Jonny Bairstow signs new three-year contract at Yorkshire

England batsman Jonny Bairstow has signed a new deal which will see him continue to represent Yorkshire until the end of the 2021 county season.

The 29-year-old had cast his future at Headingley in doubt after revealing his discontent at the county allowing Alex Lees and Liam Plunkett to leave.

But Bairstow, a product of the Yorkshire academy system, said such departures opened opportunities for new faces to come into the first-team.

“I’m very pleased to have signed my extension,” Bairstow said. “It has taken a little while to get it sorted with a few bits going on, but I’m really pleased to have signed the extension.

“I always enjoy coming back, but it’s going to be really different this year, losing a few of the guys and potentially playing against some of the people you’ve had some fantastic memories playing with at Yorkshire.

“But it’s an opportunity to create some new ones with the new faces we’ve got in at the club.”

Bairstow’s availability for Yorkshire looks set to be as limited as it has in the past due to his international standing within the England team Test and ODI teams.

“At the moment I only play a few games a year and I’m sure there are plenty of people saying that I should be playing more,” Bairstow said.

“But with the international schedule the way it is – look at this summer and the Ashes, a World Cup and we go again straight after that.

“It’s a hectic schedule. It’s not just physically exhausting it’s mentally demanding as well with all the pressures that come with it.”

The news of Bairstow’s re-signing comes a month after England captain and Yorkshire teammate Joe Root also penned a three-year contract to extend his stay with the county.