UPDATE: Tensions between England and Australia have continued to rise after Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum both took issue with the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow on day five.
The incident in question took place early on the final day at Lord’s when Bairstow ducked under a short pitched delivery from Cameron Green and walked towards the centre of the pitch to have a chat to Stokes at the non-striker’s end at the end of the over.
Australian wicket keeper, Alex Carey, realising the Englishman had left his crease in a hurry, threw the stumps down and a stunned Bairstow was given his marching orders after the third umpire ruled that he’d been run out.
AS IT HAPPENED: The Ashes second Test, day five
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Australia’s decision to continue with the appeal rather than withdrawing it incited the ire of the England coach McCullum who said, “I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer any time soon” after his side’s 43-run loss when he was asked about the Bairstow dismissal.
McCullum’s view echoed that of his skipper Stokes, who questioned whether the play was in the spirit of the game.
”I think there’s quite a lot of factors that you’ve got to take into consideration,” he said.
“For me, I was asking the umpires if they had called ‘over’ and they were saying no, but then the square leg umpire and the standing umpire made movements towards it being over. But look, at the end of the day it’s out.
“If the shoe was on the other foot I would probably just have to have a little think around the spirit of the game and things like that.
“It’s happened, it’s out, and we’ve just got to move onto what’s in front of us.”
Australian captain Pat Cummins called Carey’s act a “totally fair play”, revealing that Carey had noticed Bairstow’s tendency to wonder out of his crease a few balls earlier.
Cummins said he had no regrets about not withdrawing the appeal when asked about it after the match.
While England’s brains trust protested the dismissal, Bairstow was criticised by former captains Andrew Strauss and Michael Atherton for being “dozy”.
“I don’t think there was a sort of premeditated plan from Australia, it was dozy from Jonny Bairstow, there’s no doubt about it,” Strauss said.
“Absolutely, Carey just threw the ball in, whether he’d seen Bairstow leave his crease quickly on the earlier balls who knows,” Atherton added.
“(He) gathered the ball, flicked it in before the umpire had called over so the ball was still live, it wasn’t dead and that is dozy cricket from Bairstow and costly cricket.”
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Tensions noticeably rose after the incident, with Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes exchanging verbal blows with Australia, particularly Marnus Labuschagne and Cummins.
Broad also took aim at Carey, with the stump mics catching the veteran paceman telling the Australian keeper that the dismissal of Bairstow would be the “only thing you’re remembered for”.
Tensions rise ahead of lunch break
Australian opener Usman Khawaja said he was disappointed by Broad’s reaction, despite his “love” for the England seamer.
“The decision is in the umpire’s hands,” he told Nine.
“If the umpire deems it a dead ball today, it’s a dead ball. It’s just like yesterday’s catch.
“We don’t fully agree with it, but you have to accept the umpire’s decision, that’s why the umpires are there. There is always grey areas in cricket.
“The way it played out in some respects was pretty disappointing. I love Stuey Broad, he’s one of my favourite cricketers, the way he plays it … and he was pretty riled up out there, which you don’t want to see. It is what it is.”
Broad takes mickey out of Australia
Former Australian one day captain Aaron Finch wasn’t happy with Broad’s antics as the Englishman repeatedly asked Aussie players whether he was OK to leave his crease in the aftermath of the Bairstow dismissal.
“There’s a lot of carry on from the English, particularly Stuart Broad, carrying on like a pork chop, it’s out,” he said on Nine’s coverage.
“I couldn’t really understand the argument Stuart Broad was having out there with the Australian players, clearly got his back up about it,” Callum Ferguson added.
“And the crowd were actually getting right around that too, it was quite an atmosphere out there, unlike anything we’ve ever seen at Lord’s before.
“Even in the walk through the Long Room as the players were coming off, we were seeing in the vision before it was getting pretty hairy in there.”
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