"The Australians set him up" - Brad Hogg explains why Jonny Bairstow 'should have been called back' during Lord's Test
Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg believes Australia should have withdrawn their appeal for Jonny Bairstow's dismissal on Day 5 of the second Ashes 2023 Test.
Bairstow was found short of his crease when wicketkeeper Alex Carey collected the ball and threw it at the stumps immediately on the final day at Lord's. However, Hogg feels that this wasn't instinctive.
He believes the Aussies had noticed a sense of pattern where the wicketkeeper-batter wandered out of the crease after facing each delivery.
In a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Brad Hogg had to say about the role of the umpires on Jonny Bairstow's dismissal:
"Yes he (Bairstow) is out in the laws of the game. But the Australians set him up. They talked about it a couple of balls beforehand.
"The umpires weren't looking at the action when the stumps were hit. Going to the third umpire because they didn't see the action is fair enough, but not going to the third umpire to see whether the umpires called it 'Over' was a bit unpredictable.
"In the spirit of the game, Bairstow should have been called back."
Brad Hogg also spoke about another viral video that has been making rounds on social media. In the clip, Jonny Bairstow collected and threw the ball at the stumps to keep Marnus Labuschagne inside the crease.
On why that is different from what happened with Bairstow, Hogg added:
"Bairstow ducked under the ball, scratched the wicket and then walked off. He wasn't taking any advantage.
"There was a lot of talk about Bairstow doing it to Labuschagne in the first innings. But the thing here is that Labuschagne was outside his crease while facing the bowler. Bairstow threw the ball at the stumps to make Labuschagne get back in his crease. That is fair enough."
Umpires didn't take control of Jonny Bairstow's dismissal: Brad Hogg
Brad Hogg opined that the umpires should have been a bit more proactive about Jonny Bairstow's movements after the ball was bowled. He gave an example of how umpires give unofficial warnings to the bowlers for different scenarios and feels they could have done the same with Bairstow to keep him alert.
On this, Hogg stated:
"The Australians played by the rules of the game and it were the umpires who didn't take control. They need to control the game a lot better.
"Just like when a bowler gets closer to the wide line and the umpires warn them, they should have also told Bairstow that they think he is leaving the crease too early before the end of the over or before they could feel the ball is dead."
The Bairstow dismissal has already added a lot of spice to the remainder of Ashes 2023. With England now 2-0 down, they will be expected to put up a strong fight in the third Test, set to begin on Thursday, July 6, at Headingley.