On the fifth day of the Ashes Test at Lord’s, Australia decided not to drop their appeal for the stumping of Jonny Bairstow, which infuriated England.
At the non-striker’s end of the field, Bairstow dipped underneath a short delivery from Cameron Green, scratched the crease with his boot, and then walked towards his partner Ben Stokes with England down by five runs and needing 178 more runs to win.
Before Bairstow had even started to leave his area, wicketkeeper Alex Carey had caught the ball on the bounce and quickly under-armed a throw at the striker’s end stumps. Ahsan Raza and Chris Gaffney, the standing umpires, referred Marais Erasmus, the TV umpire, to make the call after seeing replays that indicated Bairstow had some breathing room.
Boos echoed throughout Lord’s as Bairstow walked away, glaring at the Australian group. The audience, which had been mostly quiet for the first four days of this Test, then continuously chanted, “Same old Aussies, always cheating.”
The ball was not dead as defined by the rules of the game. Law 20.1.2 states that “the ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batters at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.” Australia still evidently believed that the ball was in play.
According to Mark Taylor, a former Australian captain, “Carey doesn’t wait for Bairstow to leave.” “He will still carry out that action. Although it won’t make people pleased and doesn’t seem good, it is the right choice. The dismissal was characterized as “dozy cricket from Bairstow, and costly cricket” by former England captain Mike Atherton.
On the noon show, Eoin Morgan was much more forceful. I’ve been playing here since I was 13 years old, and I plan to continue doing so, but I’ve never seen situations like that, especially in the long room, let alone around the ground, he added.
There was a great deal of frustration, but I’m not sure why. What transpired with Jonny Bairstow’s termination is utter naivete. It was completely off. When Mark Taylor and I were communicating, he made the proper call. This is just total naivete, especially considering the events that led to his termination.
“Jonny Bairstow leaves his crease even though the ball is not yet dead at any point. They are bowling short, full, and accurate bowling, so it is clear that he is alone in his little world. measuring the defense. However, you cannot do this, and Alex Carey’s recognition of the situation is very astute. It’s a chance to take a wicket because Bairstow is in his little universe.
However, England’s players, especially Stuart Broad, who came in after them, were furious. Before lunch, Broad got into several argumentative exchanges with the Australian fielders. The man was heard saying to Carey over the stump microphone, “That’s all you’re ever going to be remembered for, that.”
Stokes also changed directions, but it’s possible that he did so because he was suddenly batting with the tail. When Bairstow had to return, he was 62 off 126 balls. However, he quickly accelerated to 100 off 142 balls by hitting the wicket-taker Green for three back-to-back sixes as Lord’s went crazy.
Even when play was halted for lunch, the needle kept going. Broad insulted David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne while mocking Pat Cummins with a clap. Usman Khawaja was also seen in the Long Room conversing with a member of the MCC as he made his way back to the changing rooms.
Khawaja called the treatment “pretty disrespectful,” and Cricket Australia reported the incident to MCC. As a result, Lord’s management apologized to the Australian team “unreservedly.”
There are other recent examples of comparable run-outs that have not led to the withdrawal of appeals, notably Ollie Pope’s dismissal of Colin de Grandhomme at Lord’s in June 2022 and, more recently, Andy Balbirnie’s dismissal of Muhammad Wasim in the World Cup Qualifier.
