Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal created quite a stir on social media during the final day’s play in the second Ashes Test between England and Australia at Lord’s.
During the 52nd over of England’s second innings, Bairstow ducked a short delivery from Cameron Green and almost instantly left his crease assuming that the ball was dead.
However, Alex Carey was alert behind the stumps as the Australian wicketkeeper collected the ball and hit the stumps in one go to catch Bairstow well outside his crease.
While the dismissal once again triggered the Spirit of Cricket debate, veteran India spinner R Ashwin backed Carey’s decision to run out a wandering English wicketkeeper-batter.
“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 on Sunday (July 2).
While Ashwin got support from many, his stance on the Bairstow dismissal was also questioned by some, including the renowned journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.
Taking to Twitter, Rajdeep quoted Ashwin’s post and wrote: "Sorry to bang on about this but I do love the game.. To my friend @ashwinravi99 and all those who believe that Johnny Bairstow was fairly OUT .. I have a simple Qs: would you be happy if you were given out in that way? That’s the real test. Do unto others what you would do to yourself!"
Ashwin then came up with a savage and straightforward response as he tweeted: “I would be disappointed, very disappointed, in fact gutted with myself for getting out like that.”
The rule 20.1.2 of ICC Playing Conditions states: “The ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batsmen at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.”
Therefore, Carey was well within his rights to hit the stumps and third umpire Marais Erasmus rightfully adjudged the batter out.
After the game, however, England skipper Ben Stokes said he would not have preferred a win with the kind of dismissal that led to Bairstow’s departure.
"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 would I want to do something like that. For Australia, it was the match-winning moment. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no," Stokes told the BBC.
