Former Yorkshire wicketkeeper Simon Guy has hailed Bruce French’s influence on current Tykes gloveman Jonny Bairstow.

Guy, who retired from professional cricket last September, says there is no limit to what 20-year-old Bairstow can achieve in the sport after watching his progression from the sidelines this summer.

“When it comes to natural ability and raw talent, Jonny’s got it coming out of his ear holes,” said Guy.

“He’s just needed some time, patience and a little bit of experience, which is what he’s been given through working with Bruce French at the England Performance Programme camp in South Africa.”

Guy, now a full-time coach with Andrew Gale’s and Chris Taylor’s Pro Coach Cricket Academy, knows the former Nottinghamshire and England keeper well after spending time with the England under-19s and the England women’s squads over the last eight months.

“I speak with Bruce quite regularly and he’s a typical wicketkeeper. He is a big believer in the theory that if you put the time and effort in, you’ll get your rewards,” said Guy.

“That’s what seems to have happened with Jonny because I was amazed with how much he’d improved when I saw him in a session with Bruce in pre-season.

“With Jonny being such a natural talent, he didn’t have that much to work on from a technical point of view.

“When you watch him bat, he’s a phenomenal talent, but all he’s needed from a wicketkeeping point of view is time in the middle.

“You only have to look at Adam Lyth. He’s been a good player for a couple years but this year he has got time in the middle and has become the first man in the country to score 1,000 runs.

“If Jonny goes the same way, there’s potentially no stopping him.”

Guy has spent his time off the field wisely, completing his level four coaching qualification – the highest level any cricket coach can reach – and touring with the England under-19s squad to Bangladesh last October.

Pro Coach also have a base at Headingley, enabling him to keep a close watch on his former team-mates.

“They’ve done brilliantly,” said 31-year-old Guy, who was behind the sticks when Yorkshire’s second team won the one-day trophy last season.

“If you look at us on paper, we have a lot of fantastically talented players. It’s just that they’ve come together as a team and unit. That’s what’s been the difference.

“We’ve got some international players in Ajmal Shahzad and Tim Bresnan, experience with Jacques Rudolph, the youngsters, then people like Herschelle Gibbs coming in for Twenty20.

“When you look at it like that, we’re a force to be reckoned with.

“It just shows our strength in depth that some of our better players are out and about, like Galey with the Lions, yet we’ve still managed to perform at an unbelievably high standard. Long may that continue.”

Pro Coach Cricket Academy will be running a series of coaching camps throughout Yorkshire in July and August. There is one at Woodlands CC in Bradford on August 4-6. For more information visit www.procricketcoachingacademy.com or call 01132-033609.