‘Stay in your crease, you should be aware as a player’: Root laments Bairstow’s Ashes 2023 stumping dismissal
‘Stay in your crease, you should be aware as a player’: Root laments Bairstow’s Ashes 2023 stumping dismissal
Former England captain Joe Root lamented Jonny Bairstow's infamous stumping dismissal in the 2023 Ashes at Lord's.
Exactly a year from the infamous dismissal during England's 371-run chase on Day 5 against Australia, Bairstow was stumped by wicket-keeper Alex Carey as he walked out from the crease after a delivery from Cameron Green. Root expressed his views in an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) documentary titled 'The Ashes 2023 | Our Take', released on the anniversary of Bairstow's appalling dismissal.
“Initially I was quite angry, but I think when you’re involved in the game it’s very difficult to put yourself in the other position,” Root said.
“So I’d like to say I would have dealt with it differently, but I could very easily have done the same thing.
“At the end of the day, it’s within the laws of the game. You should be aware as a player. Jonny will hate me saying this, but if you stay in your crease you can’t get given out can you?”
Chasing 371, England had entered stumps on day 4 at 114 for four. “Look I can’t wait for tomorrow,” Bairstow said that night as he addressed his teammates.
“We’ve been a part of some special things over the last 18 months. And for me, it just feels like it could potentially be one of those amazing days, and someone just stand up and put their name on the board, make a contribution, stick your chest out, front up and we’ll be fine.”
Batting on the final day, Bairstow was the sixth wicket to fall when Carey's timely action proved to be decisive for Australia in an eventual 43-run win. The dismissal also sparked widespread critcism from English fans. A Maryleborne Cricekt Club (MCC) was handed a life ban and two MCC members were suspended in the aftermath of clashes with the Australian side.
Bairstow's teammate Moeen Ali also commented on the former's tendency to leave the crease prematurely after a ball is bowled. “I always felt Jonny leaves his crease so early, he leaves the ball and just walks straight down, and I always felt he leaves early,” Moeen said.
Bairstow, however, does not take a definitive stance in an interview for the documentary. "Who knows whether it was right or wrong, or anything in between. We're out there representing ourselves, and as long as you can go home and be all right with yourself then so be it."
The result would push England 0-2 down in the five-match Test series before Ben Stokes' remarkably fought back to level the series 2-2.
The 34-year-old Bairstow had an underwhelming run during England's T20 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean and was recently dropped from the Test squad to take on West Indies at home in July.
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