“Would I want to win a game in that manner? No” - Ben Stokes opens up on Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal
England captain Ben Stokes has stated that he would have withdrawn the appeal if he was in a situation where he had to make a call on a Jonny Bairstow-like incident.
Bairstow was controversially stumped on Day 5 of the Lord’s Test on Sunday. The England keeper-batter walked out of his crease after leaving a ball from Cameron Green and an alert Alex Carey threw down the stumps.
Since the ball was deemed ‘not dead’, the decision was referred to the third umpire and Bairstow was declared out for 10. The wicket proved to be a huge setback for England in their chase of 371. Despite Stokes’ sensational 155, they went down by 43 runs.
Stokes opened up about Bairstow’s dismissal and commented on BBC’s Test Match Special:
"Jonny was in his crease, then out of his crease to come down and have the chat. I am not disputing the fact it is out because it is out.
"Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no," he added.
🤐🤐🤐
#EnglandCricket | #Ashes https://t.co/dDGCnj4qNm
The dismissal led to a hostile atmosphere at Lord's. Australian captain Pat Cummins was booed by England fans.
Also, a couple of senior Aussie players like Usman Khawaja and David Warner were confronted by Lord's members in the Long Room as they headed for lunch.
“When is it justified that the umpires have called over?” - Stokes on Bairstow dismissal
Stokes also shared his views on critics pointing out that the ball was not a ‘dead’ one and hence Bairstow was wrong in walking out of his crease immediately.
He retorted:
"When is it justified that the umpires have called over? Is the on-field umpires making movement... is that enough to call over? I'm not sure.
"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 and if I would want to do something like that," the talismanic all-rounder added.
Following Bairstow’s controversial dismissal, Stokes was fired up and threatened to single-handedly lift England to victory. However, he was dismissed with the hosts 70 runs short of the target.
There were shades of Headingley 2019 in his knock and the England skipper admitted:
"I did look back at Headingley but unfortunately it wasn't enough.”
You are something else, Stokesy 🙌💯
@IGcom | #Ashes https://t.co/JCwJUKYkGJ
He, however, asserted that England can still win the Ashes, despite being 0-2 down.
Stokes affirmed:
"We beat Pakistan and New Zealand 3-0 [in 2022], so that is how we have to look at it."
The third Ashes 2023 Test begins at Headingley in Leeds on July 6.