Jonny Bairstow annoyed by 'out of order' comments as Australian dressing room bruised

Jonny Bairstow has insisted some of the criticism leveled at him is 'out of place'. The England wicketkeeper, who played on day three of the fourth Test, believes they did everything they could to keep the Ashes alive, but admitted they needed a weather window to finish the job.

England chase a further six Australian wickets with a 162 lead as they look to lead the series in a winner-takes-all shootout at The Oval. But with the poor weather forecast for Old Trafford this weekend, Bairstow admitted he needed a break in the clouds to level the series.

Bairstow delighted the crowd with an unbeaten 99 from 81 balls as England extended their first innings lead to 275. And he used the platform of his near miss to slam criticism from his wicketkeeper, insisting he did wonders playing international cricket so soon after his abnormal leg break.

"I'm just delighted to be there and proud to be back on the pitch after 10 months away and three years away as a ticket clerk," he said. "To be back in international sport after nine months is something I'm really proud of.

"There was some chatter and some reviews were a bit misplaced. You have to take a step back. I haven't played in 10 months and haven't kept well in three years, so the two combined are going to be challenges."

Turning his attention to the state of the game, Bairstow said: "We put ourselves in a position by taking four wickets here which hopefully, well, we did everything we could have done in the game.

“Time is time. What comes will come and we can control what we have done so far in the game, which is to score at a pace that puts us in a position that hopefully forces a result.”

Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood admitted their locker room was bruised at the end of a tough day with the bat and the ball.

He said, "We've probably never been so well received before in terms of execution rate. Bairstow played some amazing shots at the end, so thanks to him."