Was Steve Smith Run Out By George Ealham At The Oval?

Australia vice-captain Steve Smith should consider himself highly fortunate for surviving what would’ve been a run-out had it not been for a slight error on the part of England wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow on the second day of the ongoing fifth Ashes 2023 Test match at The Oval.

Had he been dismissed, Smith wouldn’t have had anyone to put the blame on because it was his own decision to take a chance against substitute fielder George Ealham’s arm. Australia, who had already lost seven wickets at the time, couldn’t afford to lose Smith with 85 more runs needed to close-in on the hosts’ first-innings lead.

Australia, who had lost a couple of wickets within the first three overs of the afternoon session today, had almost lost Smith in the third over of the evening session. Although the right-handed batter survived a dismissal, he couldn’t prevent the incident from taking the shape of a controversial decision.

Was Steve Smith Run Out By George Ealham At The Oval?

No. As mentioned above, Smith survived because Bairstow had made contact with the stumps before collecting the ball. Had he not done the same, he would’ve been able to successfully affect a run-out and perhaps provide another send-off to Smith.

Not the easiest of decisions for third umpire Nitin Menon, he ruled it in Smith’s favour because the bail wasn’t dislodged completely from both the groves. Since Bairstow had touched the stumps first with his keeping gloves, he had to completely remove the off-stump bail from the two touching points before being eligible to dismiss Smith.

By the time the bail was completely removed, Smith had made the crease. Having said that, the batter would’ve been run out in the general run of things (had Bairstow not faltered). Himself part of a controversial dismissal earlier in the series, it would be safe to conclude that the English keeper hasn’t had the best of times with respect to stumpings and run-outs of late.

20 Months After Arguing With Nitin Menon, R Ashwin Applauds Him For Making “Right Decision”

Ace Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who had expressed a viewpoint at the time of Bairstow’s dismissal at Lord’s earlier this month, took to social media platform Twitter again today.

Having argued with Menon in a Test match against New Zealand at the Green Park 20 months ago, Ashwin wholeheartedly praised the Indian umpire for having taken his time before making the “right decision”.

Known for his cosmic knowledge of the sport, Ashwin also didn’t forget to mention legendary Australian captain Ricky Ponting‘s run out off substitute fielder Gary Pratt during Ashes 2005.

You can read more about Ponting’s run-out by clicking here.