On Jonny Bairstow Controversy, Legendary Umpire Simon Taufel's Million-Dollar Take

The debate over Jonny Bairstow's bizarre dismissal does not seem to be ending soon. The incident which happened during the fifth day of the second Ashes Test between England and Australia, also took a political turn when Prime Ministers of both the countries gave their takes on it. As many former cricketers like Gautam Gambhir, Brad Hogg, and others continue to express their opinion on the issue, legendary umpire Simon Taufel also did not shy away from giving his point of view regarding the same.

Speaking of the incident, Taufel backed the third umpire's decision to dismiss Bairstow and stated that the ball is not considered to be "dead" till the time both the teams regard it as "out of play".

"Correct decision made. They (England) just didn't like it. For that ball to be considered dead after the over or even after the delivery, both sides need to disregard it is in play. Clearly, the fielding side hadn't," Taufel told ABC Sydney Mornings. 

The incident took place during the 52nd over on Day 5, when Bairstow wandered out of the crease after ducking on Cameron Green's bouncer, thinking the ball was dead. Alex Carey took advantage of the situation and made a direct hit onto the stumps.

Reacting to Bairstow's dismissal, England skipper Ben Stokes had stated that he wouldn't want to win a game in such a manner. But, he admitted that whatever happened on the field was well within the rules of the game.

"If the shoe was 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. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no," he had said on Sunday.

Talking about the match, Stokes made a remarkable 155 before he was dismissed with England 70 runs shy of a steep target of 371.

England were eventually dismissed for 327 as holders Australia, bidding for a first away Ashes series win in 22 years, went 2-0 up in the five-match campaign.

(With AFP Inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Jonny Bairstow Ben Stokes Alex Carey Ashes 2023 Cricket