ANDREW Gale says developing a tighter technique during the winter has paid dividends for Ashes contender Jonny Bairstow.

The 25-year-old Yorkshire wicketkeeper batsman has vaulted himself into contention for the biggest Test series of them all with four LV= County Championship hundreds in nine innings.

His haul of 744 runs with an average of 106.28 means he is the leading run-scorer in Division One.

Despite the growing talk of his Ashes inclusion, Gale believes his team-mate will have to be patient for his chance given that the batsmen who will start the first Test at Cardiff on Wednesday deserve the chance to prove their worth in the side.

The Yorkshire captain said: “I think technically he's a lot tighter than he was last year. He's got a higher back lift and looks a lot stiller at the crease. From that, he's judging length a lot better.

“The number of times he's been bowled in the last two or three years because his hands are going through the line and he's not moving his feet.

“He's shown this year that he's a lot more balanced at the crease.

"Also, I think he's more mature as well.

"Sometimes, what happens is a lot of young players get a sniff of that England environment and take their eye off the ball and look too far ahead.

“He's gone through that now and forgotten about it. He knows that if he does well, that will naturally happen.”

Bairstow’s fourth hundred of the season came in the first innings of Yorkshire’s ongoing Championship clash with Warwickshire at Edgbaston, 108 during Sunday’s opening day.

“I think he's ready to play in the Ashes,” said Gale. “Whether he will get a spot, I'm not sure, but there's always someone who drops out of form or picks up an injury.

"I wouldn't put him in now because I don't think anyone's done anything wrong to be left out.

"Usually after two or three Tests, you get a feeling of how things are going, who's out of nick. Jonny's in the form of his life, and it would be nice when they did put him in that he batted in his preferred position, five, six or seven.”