Ben Stokes, the captain of England, stated that he would not have wanted to win a game of cricket with an embarrassing dismissal like the one that led to Jonny Bairstow’s contentious departure during Australia’s triumph in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.
Bairstow, the last of England’s recognized batsmen, was dismissed for 10 in a peculiar manner shortly before midday on the last day of the match on Sunday. This occurred after he drifted out of his ground after dodging a Cameron Green bouncer, and wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who was quick on his feet, under-armed the ball onto the stumps. Bairstow was out for 10.
By tapping his bat behind the crease, Bairstow had the impression that he had established his position.
The appeal could have been withdrawn by the captain of Australia, Pat Cummins, but the decision was forwarded to the third umpire, Marais Erasmus, who determined that Bairstow had been stumped. England’s current score is 193-6, and they are attempting to reach a goal of 371.
An infuriated Ben Stokes, who was then on 62 and had just launched a blazing assault on the bowling, did so as supporters jeered the decision and mocked Australia with cries of “Same old Aussies, always cheating.” Australia was the target of the taunts.
The all-rounder scored an incredible 155, but his wonderful performance was not enough to prevent England from suffering a 43-run loss to allow Australia to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Australia won by 43 runs.
Bairstow was out on the very last delivery of the over, and Stokes suggested that the movement of the umpires may have given him the impression that the ball had already stopped moving.
Stokes asked the following question to the BBC: “When is it justified that the umpires have called over?”
“Are the onfield umpires moving around, and if so, is it sufficient to call a timeout? I’m not sure. Jonny moved back and forth between his crease and his offensive zone. I am not going to dispute the fact that it has been released because it has been released.”
However, he continued by saying, “If the shoe were on the other foot, I would have put more pressure on the umpires and asked whether they had called over and had a deep think about the whole spirit of the game and whether or not I would want to do something like that.”
“It proved to be the decisive play for Australia in the contest.
Would I want to win a game by doing anything like that? No is my response to that question.