“I don't think you want that filtering down into kids' cricket” - Jonny Bairstow opens up on controversial Ashes stumping in new book
England’s wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow has opened up on his controversial stumping by Alex Carey in the Lord’s Test of the 2023 Ashes series. Sharing his thoughts in a new book, he stated that he has moved on from the contentious dismissal, but stressed the point that he was not trying to gain an unfair advantage by moving out of his crease.
A massive controversy erupted on the last day of the Lord’s Test after Carey threw down the stumps on seeing Bairstow walk out of his crease after leaving a delivery. The batter was stunned by the Australian keeper’s move, but the fielding side did not withdraw the appeal. Bairstow stormed off the field as he was declared stumped.
In Lawrence Booth and Nick Hoult's new book “Bazball: the Inside Story of a Test Cricket Revolution”, extracts of which were published in The Telegraph on Monday, October 23, Bairstow gave his thoughts on the dismissal.
"The decision was that I was out, and I moved on. I've not brought it up since. I've kept quiet. It's on them. If that's how they want to go about it and win a cricket game or what have you, then so be it," he opined.
The 34-year-old, however, also said that he had never seen anything like it and also stated he wouldn’t want kids’ cricket to be influenced by such dismissals.
"If you try to gain an advantage, then it's fair game. But if you're starting in your crease, you've ducked, tap, tap, scratched. I've even dragged my bat, looked up, and then gone. I've never seen it happen from someone starting in their crease. I don't think you want that filtering down into kids' cricket," the England cricketer further commented.
Putting behind the contentious dismissal at Lord’s, he hammered a defining 99* off 81 balls in the fourth Test in Manchester and followed it up with 78 in the final Test at The Oval.
“There's conjecture around everything” - Bairstow on controversial catches during Ashes 2023
Apart from Bairstow’s stumping incident, there was also plenty of debate over a couple of catches Australia claimed during the Ashes. Some critics reckoned that Steven Smith was not in control of the catch he took to dismiss Joe Root on day two of the Lord's Test.
"There's conjecture around everything - Fingers underneath the ball when the ball's still touching the ground, Celebrating when the ball has touched the ground. Marnus celebrated at Edgbaston at short-leg,” he commented.
"Then the one that 'Rooty' fell to at Lord's, when [Smith] said his fingers were underneath the ball. However, they were splayed widely. But that was given out, that's fine - it's part and parcel of the game and the decisions the umpires give," Bairstow concluded.
England lost the first two Tests of Ashes 2023, but came back back strongly to win the third and fifth matches and square the series 2-2.