Stuart Broad has said that Australia captain Pat Cummins will regret not withdrawing the appeal for Jonny Bairstow’s wicket after the England star was controversially dismissed on the final day of the second Test at Lord’s.
Bairstow was stumped by Alex Carey, caught wandering out of his crease at the end of a Cameron Green over, with the third umpire upholding Australia’s appeal as the ball was not deemed ‘dead’.
However, the wicket has sparked huge debate and, as a fired-up Broad took to the crease as the next batter, he made his feelings clear, theatrically making sure his bat was in at the end of the over and having words with wicketkeeper Carey about the dismissal.
Despite a heroic 155-run cameo from England captain Ben Stokes, the home outfit never fully recovered and the conversation has continued surrounding the importance of the wicket.
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A fired-up Stuart Broad took it to the Australian team after Jonny Bairstow’s controversial stumping.
Now, in his column for the Daily Mail, Broad has weighed in and said: “So, within the laws of the game, is the ball still live because Alex Carey catches it and throws it? Probably. Is there any advantage being taken by England? No. Does a full stadium of people think that ball has been and gone? Yes.
“On BBC radio commentary, Jonathan Agnew has already moved on from the calling of the ball.
“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.”
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Jonny Bairstow had a frosty exchange with Australia captain Pat Cummins after the final day of the second Ashes Test.
Broad also referenced the cultural shift that the Australian team has been working hard on since the ball-tampering scandal of 2018.
The scandal happened during a Test match against South Africa in which Cameron Bancroft was seen to be tampering with a ball using sandpaper and captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were found to be involved.
Since, the Australia team has worked hard to repair their image and the England bowler believes they will reflect and believe they made the wrong decision.
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Australia head coach, Andrew McDonald says he does not see ‘too many issues’ with Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.
“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,” added Broad.
“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.’
“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.
“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.”
McCullum: Decision will effect Australia | Anger will galvanise us
England coach Brendon McCullum believes the decision to not withdraw the appeal will eventually have an “effect” on the Australia team and believes the anger from it will only “galvanise” his England side as they look to win the crucial third Test.
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Brendon McCullum believes England can bounce back from being 2-0 down in the series
“In the end, they made a play, they’ve got to live with that. We would have made a different play but that’s life. In time, we’ll see, but I get the feeling that it might have an effect on them,” said McCullum.
“I don’t know if it’s anger, but our unit is galvanised. There are times as a coach where you’ve got to reduce emotion because it’s going to bubble over and you can make poor decisions, but there’s times when you allow emotion to go because it’s going to galvanise the unit.
“That’s what I felt this emotion did for the side. I looked around the group and the guys were a little upset. If that helps us to win those key moments in the next Test, then I’m all for it. (Winning) 3-2 has a nice ring to it.”
Stokes responds to criticism from Aussie press | “I never take the new ball”
The incident reverberated around the cricketing world and the Australian press, in some quarters has come out hard against the England team, with the West Australian Newspaper using an image of Stokes’ head on a baby with a dummy and a headline of “Cry babies”.
The England captain has since responded in jest on social media, saying: “That’s definitely not me. Since when did I bowl with the new ball.”
Following the fiery day at Lord’s, Stokes was quick to hit out at the incident and question whether it was in the “spirit of the game”.
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Ben Stokes questions Australia’s ‘spirit of the game’ after Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal on day five at Lord’s.
“Jonny left his crease to come out and have the conversation in between overs like every batter does and I think if I was fielding captain at the time, I would have put a lot more pressure on the umpires to ask them around what their decision was around the over,” Stokes said.
“Then I would have had to have a real think around the spirt of the game and would I want to potentially win a game with something like that happening – and it would be no.”
Watch the crucial third Test of this summer’s men’s Ashes series live on Sky Sports Cricket from Thursday July 6. Coverage from Headingley starts from 10am with the first ball at 11am. Also stream this summer’s men’s and women’s Ashes series on NOW TV.
