Australia’s win in the second Test has taken a back seat due to the drama surrounding the Jonny Bairstow stumping.
Despite the Aussies taking a 2-0 lead in the series, all the talk has been surrounding Alex Carey’s clever dismissal of Bairstow during England’s failed run chase at Lord’s.
The English were clearly upset about the incident as they believe it wasn’t within the spirit of the game, but at the end of the day, Bairstow was out of his crease and was dismissed within the laws of the game.
Former Aussie Test captain Tim Paine suggests the reaction from the English wasn’t unforeseen.
“Expected from them, to be honest,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“It’s funny with cricket, I’ve heard a few people talk about it in the last few weeks. Everyone is guilty of it in cricket, we like to use the spirit of cricket as a defence when something doesn’t go your way.
“The simple answer is just to play within the laws of the game and let the umpires do their jobs.
“Pretty predictable (the reaction). A lot of hypocrisy, that’s for sure, coming out of the English. It added to the theatre and the drama.”
Australian wicketkeeper Carey was quick on his feet when stumping Bairstow, but should he have given him a warning?
“Probably not,” former keeper Paine added.
“It’s not something I would normally do, give a warning for something like that, unless I knew the player.
“Normally the warning is like when he threw at Marnus (Labuschagne) in the first innings. You don’t normally hit the stumps first go as a wicketkeeper. You’d make a bit of eye contact, you might not verbally give them a warning. You’d let him know in some way, shape or form.
“My opinion of it is that it was excellent quick thinking from Alex Carey. This wasn’t like it was the very first time that Bairstow had done it. The footage showed, and you only had to go back the last three balls, he did it every ball.
“Why was he doing it? I’m not sure, you’ll have to ask him, but I thought it was quick thinking by Alex Carey to react to something that he was seeing in real time.”
When the dust settled, Paine believes it would have sunk in for Bairstow that he had made a mistake.
“For Jonny Bairstow, I know there’s been a bit of carry-on from the Poms, but when he went to his hotel room and put his head on the pillow, he would have known he made a massive error,” he said further.
“I’ve played a lot against Jonny and because Cameron Green was coming with a few bouncers, he likes to try and insert himself on the game and get into the contest and pick a fight. He sticks his chest out and you can see him walk straight at Cam Green to try and get in the contest.
“Unfortunately he lost his way a little bit and left his crease way too early.”
Another ex-Aussie captain, Mark Taylor, has simply put the Bairstow dismissal down to absent-mindedness.
“Jonny Bairstow had a bit of a brain fade, to be absolutely honest, to be walking out of your crease like that,” Taylor told SENQ Breakfast.
“People are trying to invoke the spirit of cricket and all sorts of stuff. The job of a batsman is to stay in his crease.
“A stumping is one of the 10 ways to get out, so if you wander out of your crease when the ball is still alive you’re a chance to be stumped as Jonny Bairstow found out.”
Taylor feels Australian skipper Pat Cummins was well within his rights to appeal and has no issue with how the Bairstow stumping was executed.
“I think when both sides go away and have a look at the game they’ll realise that Australia were the better side,” Taylor added.
“It’s very easy to say three or four hours after the incident that you wouldn’t have appealed or you would have revoked the appeal. I’m not sure many captains would.
“Most captains would have said, ‘Ah well, that’s the laws of the game, you walked out of your crease, the appeal stands, see you later’. Most captains I know would have done exactly the same thing as Patty Cummins did.”
The third Ashes Test at Headingley begins on Thursday night from 8pm AEST.
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