Jonny Bairstow during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s©AFP
Conversation over Jonny Bairstow’s controversial sacking during England v Australia’s second Ashes Test match at Lord’s has sparked a wider conversation about the ‘spirit of cricket’. Fans and pundits alike are currently split on the subject, with many comparing the incident to previous layoffs or cases on social media. England fast bowler Stuart Broad recounted the ongoing discussion and explained his position on Bairstow’s stumping during the match.
“Yes, I saw a clip from earlier in the game when Jonny, in his guise of wicketkeeper, threw the ball at the stumps himself. But that was because Marnus Labuschagne hit outside his crease – trying to knock the lbw out of play. words, looking for an advantage Clips of Colin de Grandhomme running in last year’s Lord’s Test have also done the rounds, and that’s just the most ridiculous comparison ever, as he was hit by the path coming across the field, was looking for a run and Ollie Pope was throwing down the stumps from the gully. Again, trying to gain an advantage,” Broad wrote in his latest column for the Daily Mail.
“With regard to the Jonny incident, no advantage was taken there: he let the ball go, scratched his goal in the crease and acknowledged it was the end of the over and went to talk to Ben Stokes. And if you look at the footage of when the stumps were broken, one umpire has the bowler hat in hand, the other walks head down and comes in with a square leg – actions suggesting they too thought the over was over,” Broad wrote continuing as he addressed the controversy that followed the incident.
Broad further added that he was ‘surprised’ at how Australia’s cricketers handled the situation and thought at least one senior member of the team would challenge the decision.
“What surprised me, and what I told the Australians I couldn’t believe when we left the field at lunch, was that there wasn’t one senior player among them – and I understand very well in the emotion of the game that the bowler and wicket-keeper would have thought ‘that’s out’ – wondered what they had done,” he added.
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