The stumping dismissal of England wicket-keeper batter Jonny Bairstow in the second Ashes 2023 Test at Lord’s has again ignited a debate around the laws of cricket and spirit of cricket. Stumped by Australia wicket-keeper Alex Carey on Sunday, it was a completely legal dismissal but many of the pundits reckoned it to be against morals.
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Australia batter Travis Head has now exposed Bairstow’s hypocrisy by revealing an interesting incident. Head said that Bairstow admitted to be attempting the same thing if he would have got a chance. With all being said, a casual Bairstow should have stayed inside the crease until the ball was “dead”.
Australia captain Pat Cummins said that it was within the laws of the game, whereas his English counterpart Ben Stokes‘ thoughts were quite different. Head even talked to Bairstow after the incident and reminded him about his words.
Travis Head Reveals How Jonny Bairstow Warned Him About Stumping In the Same Way
Speaking on Willow Talk Podcast, Head revealed that he reminded Bairstow about the same thing he tried to do. Bairstow even tried to do a similar kind of thing against Marnus Labuschagne in the first innings of the same match. Stokes’ claiming that England wouldn’t have done such an act has taken a blow after Head’s accusations.
“I sort of reminded Jonny [Bairstow] last week I walked out of my crease in Edgbaston at the end of the over. And the ball got whipped in, and I quickly whipped my bat back.”
“And questioned Jonny, ‘Would you take the stumps?’ And he said, ‘Bloody oath, I would,’ and ran off. So I sort of reminded him, ‘Remember last week when you said you’d do exactly the same thing?’ So whether he remembered saying that or not.”
A video is also doing the rounds across social media platforms where Bairstow did a cheeky stumping in a County Championship match between Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. Veteran all-rounder Samit Patel was batting and Bairstow waited for him to lift his leg.
‘I Got That one Wrong’ – Stuart Broad Feels Pat Cummins Will Regret His Decision
England pacer Stuart Broad recently said that he is surprised that none of the senior Australian players advised Cummins to withdraw the appeal. In his column in Daily Mail, Broad called Cummins a “great guy” and believed that emotions got high on him. However, Broad insisted that Cummins will regret not calling Bairstow back.
“Pat Cummins is a really great guy and I would be amazed, once the emotion settles, if he does not sit back and think, ‘I got that one wrong’, even though his bottom line at the time was winning a Test match.”
With the match done and dusted now, it is high time that players of both the teams concentrate on the task in hand, i.e., the third match of the series scheduled to be played in Leeds Thursday onward.
