Do I Want To Win In That Manner? ‘Unhappy’ Ben Stokes Reacts To Bairstow’s Run-out
New Delhi: Australia beat England in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s by 43 runs on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-Test series. During the match England’s wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow was run-out under controversial circumstances which led to drama at the iconic venue.
Bairstow only scored 10 runs when he ducked under a bouncer from Cameron Green when he started walking of his crease. Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey immediately directed an underarm throw after catching the delivery and fired an accurate throw towards the stumps.
On one hand, Bairstow believed that the ball was dead; on the other hand, TV umpire Marais Erasmus confirmed Bairstow’s dismissal. The Australian players started celebrating while the crowd began to chant ‘same old Aussies, always cheating’.
England star Ben Stokes, who played an incredible innings and smashed 155 runs, revealed that if this incident happened in Australia, he would withdraw the dismissal.
“My thoughts around it is, when is it justified that umpires have called ‘over’? Does the square leg umpire making some movement justify that? Jonny Bairstow was in his crease and then came out to have a chat in the middle. I’m not disputing if it was out, it was”, Stokes said.
“If the shoe was on the other foot, I would’ve had to think about the whole spirit of the game. But it has happened, it was out. We have to move on… Do I want to win in that manner? No”, he added.
Ashwin Hails Alex Carey For His Smartness
Star Indian bowler Ravichandran Ashwin, who is always at the centre of controversial dismissals, praises Australia’s Alex Carey for his awareness of the game.
“We must get one fact loud and clear. The keeper would never have a dip at the stumps from that far out in a test match unless he or his team have noticed a pattern of the batter leaving his crease after leaving a ball like Bairstow did. We must applaud the game smarts of the individual rather than skewing it towards unfair play or spirit of the game,” he tweeted.