I’ve got a feeling Jonny Bairstow is going to deliver this week: Stuart Broad

The Ashes 2023 has been a very competitive affair so far and that is what cricket lovers expect when two top sides lock horns. The series is tantalisingly poised at 2-1 in favour of Pat Cummins' men. The fourth Test begins on Wednesday, July 19 at Old Trafford, Manchester.

Star England pacer and highest wicket-taker so far in the series, Stuart Broad has backed wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow to score big in Manchester after having a lacklustre time in the last couple of games. Bairstow made an enterprising 78-ball 78 in the first innings of the first Test. Since then, his highest score has been just 20. The pressure on the 33-year-old has also amplified after his wicketkeeping form has also been indifferent.

Broad mentioned how he and Bairstow had a thing in common. Both of them excel when their backs are against the wall. In the same light, the experienced bowler backed Bairstow to overcome his struggles and return to form in Manchester.

"We all know Jonny Bairstow well enough to be able to say with confidence that he reacts best when the pressure is on. In that respect, he and I are quite similar. Which is why I’ve got a feeling he’s going to deliver this week. He’ll feel he has a point to prove — not to any of us in the dressing room, but to the outside world," Broad wrote in his column for The Daily Mail.

I’m expecting a big performance from him [James Anderson] in a high-pressure game: Stuart Broad

Legendary England pacer, James Anderson, played the first couple of matches in the ongoing Ashes 2023 and picked up just three wickets in 77 overs. He was left out of the side for the third Test. Broad said that the 40-year-old was unlucky with his groin injury and the pitches on offer. However, the in-form Broad stated that he was expecting a fine performance from his fellow pacer in a high-pressure game.

"I know that Jimmy Anderson, too, by his own admission, didn’t have the best games at Edgbaston and Lord’s, but I honestly think he was unlucky — both with the timing of his groin injury with Lancashire, which disturbed his Ashes preparation and with the pitches. He’s bowled goodness knows how many overs at Old Trafford and I’m expecting a big performance from him in a high-pressure game," Broad concluded.