England fast bowler Stuart Broad says he was surprised that there wasn’t one senior Australian player who put a question mark on their action that resulted in the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow during a tense fifth day’s play of the 2nd Ashes Test at Lord’s.
Bairstow was punished for wandering out of his crease under the assumption that the over has been completed and the final ball considered dead as Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey scored a direct hit to have him stumped.
While the dismissal was perfectly within the law, England players and fans have been quite vocal in criticisng Australia for not withdrawing their appeal citing Bairstow wasn’t seeking any advantage by leaving his crease nor was he attempting a run.
“What amazed me, and what I told the Australians I could not believe as we left the field at lunch, was that not one senior player among them – and I very much understand in the emotion of the game that the bowler and wicketkeeper would have thought ‘that’s out’ – questioned what they had done,” Broad wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
Broad pointed out how Australia started a cultural shift following the ball tampering scandal of 2018 as they moved on from winning at all cost mentality.
“Especially given what their team has been through over recent years, with all their cultural change. Not one of them said: ‘Hang on, lads. I’m not really sure about this.’ Not one of them thought: ‘He’s gaining no advantage. He’s not trying to get a run. It’s the end of the over. It’s a bit of a random dismissal. We should cancel that appeal.’” Broad wrote.
He then added that Australia captain Pat Cummins will regret at some point his decision to not rescind the appeal.
“Ultimately, 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,” Broad wrote.
Broad defended England’s insistence that Bairstow wasn’t trying to gain any advantage.
“With regards to the Jonny incident, zero advantage was being taken there: he let the ball go, scratched his mark within the crease, and acknowledging it as the end of the over, went to speak to Ben Stokes” he wrote.
“And if you look at the footage of when the stumps were broken, one umpire has got the bowler’s cap in his hand, the other is head down, walking in from square leg — actions that suggest they too thought the over had finished,” he added.
Australia players were booed following the incident.
“The Lord’s crowd are obviously huge cricket lovers and never before have I seen a reaction from them like that. They were so angry,” Broad said.
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