"Complete Naivety": Ex-England Captain Blasts Jonny Bairstow Over Controversial Incident

The final day of the second Ashes Test at Lord's Cricket ground witnessed a debatable moment in the 52nd over when Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey stumped out English batsman Jonny Bairstow with a direct throw. England's former captain Mike Atherton said that it was dozy cricket from Bairstow. Alex Carey with his direct throw ran out Jonny Bairstow who was outside of his crease. Jonny Bairstow was in an apparent dilemma and walked back to the pavilion having scored 10 runs off 22 balls that included two boundaries.

"Dozy cricket from Bairstow, and costly cricket," former England captain Mile Atherton said, according to Sky Sports.

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor said, "Carey doesn't wait for Bairstow to walk out. He's going to do that regardless. It doesn't look good and people aren't going to be happy about it, but it's the right decision."

Eoin Morgan who helped England win the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup said Bairstow was out.

"I've been here since I was a 13-year-old and I'm looking at playing my whole career here, and I've never seen scenes like that, particularly in the long room never mind all the way around the ground," he said.

"There was a huge sense of frustration but I can't understand why. it's complete naivety around what has happened with Jonny Bairstow's dismissal. [It was] 100% out. I was on comms with Mark Taylor and he called it exactly right. In the balls leading up to his dismissal, this is just complete naivety."

"The ball is not dead at any stage and Jonny Bairstow leaves his crease. He's obviously in his own little bubble, they are bowling short, bowling full, accurate bowling. Testing his defence. But you cannot do this, and it's actually really smart from Alex Carey recognising what is going on. Bairstow's in his own little world, and it's an opportunity to take a wicket," he added, according to Sky Sports.

Bairstow left the final ball of Cameron Green's over alone to the wicketkeeper and started walking outside the crease assuming the ball was dead. However, an alert Carey realised there was an opportunity to run the batter out and effected a directed hit at the striker's end to catch Bairstow well short.

In what could be a defining moment in the series, Bairstow was left fuming as the Aussies celebrated around him.

According to law 20.1.2 of the MCC's Laws of Cricket, "the ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler's end umpire that the fielding side and both batters at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play."

Carey, having watched Bairstow make it a habit of walking outside the crease early, used the chance to run the batter out.

In this case, the fielding side clearly considered the ball to still be in play.

The dismissal left England's skipper with Stuart Broad and the rest of the tail with 178 runs to chase. Australia won the Test and are 2-0 up in the series.

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Michael Atherton Jonny Bairstow Alex Carey Ashes 2023 Cricket