Staff Writer Sam Bryan comments on the implications of Jonny Bairstow’s disputable wicket in game two of the five test series.
“That’s the worst thing I have ever seen in cricket”, Stuart Broad’s outraged comment to Australia Captain Pat Cummins as he walked onto the field at Lords. Replacing Jonny Bairstow after quite possibly the most controversial wicket in recent Ashes history, Broad took great effort to let the Wallabies know his feelings on the situation. During game two of the five test series, England Batsman, Jonny Bairstow was controversially run out by Aussie Wicket keeper Alex Carey. Bairstow, who had just ducked under a lethal bouncer, left his crease to reset with partner Ben Stokes after believing the six ball over was finished. Carey however, cheekily under-armed the ball into Bairstow’s stumps as he left the crease, ending his batting stint prematurely and finishing off the last of England’s most competent batsmen.
You can watch the wicket here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhVp2Upr4To
The event caused outrage at Lords cricket ground, the home of the sport and typically a more quiet and reserved affair. With English fans jeering and booing Australia all the way until the final delivery of the day, highlighting the unique and disruptive nature of this wicket. Given the previous day’s play that saw accusations of unsportsmanlike behaviour and cheating over a catch, it is understandable why England fans were on edge.
But why was this stumping so controversial? After all it was perfectly legal within the laws of the game and upheld by the umpires, how is it any different to a strikeout in baseball or a goal in football? To answer this question we need to look at another style of controversial runouts in cricket, a “Mankad”. This involves a bowler running out the batsman at the non striking end of the field as the batsman attempts to gain an advantage by leaving his crease early. This is a perfectly legal move within the sport, however it is viewed as highly unsportsmanlike from the bowler as the batsman is not actively participating in the game. As a result it is first typically punished with a warning before a bowler can run them out, however this is more of a convention than an absolute.
In a similar vein, convention would dictate Carey should have left Bairstow alone at the end of the over as he was clearly no longer involved. Careys’ actions have been seen as highly unsportsmanlike by the English side and supporters, prompting the Board to tell Carey that this wicket is ‘all you will ever be remembered for”.
This incident particularly highlights the issues with Australia’s commitment to maintaining the status of the game of cricket, especially in the wake of the 2018 “sandpaper gate” incident. During the third test against South Africa in march 2018 bowler Cameron Bancroft was caught on film using sandpaper to rough up one side of the ball in order to artificially enhance its “swing” in the air, making it harder to hit. The scandal was linked to then captain Steve Smith and VC David Warner and caused understandable outrage among the cricket community for creating an unfair advantage. The fallout of this included Smith crying on national television saying he will ‘regret this for the rest of my life’ and a severe decline in the respect and credibility of the Australian national team. It’s therefore baffling why Carey would do such a thing in the first place because despite “sandpaper gate” being 5 years old, its consequences are still very real for the Wallabies who should be keen to maintain their reputation as giants of the sport. Cricket is a game which is upheld by sportsmanlike and gentlemanly values. And to have a powerhouse of the sport like Australia play like this sets a dangerous precedent for the coming years which could contribute to the decline of the sports world status.
Overall knowledge and wisdom are two very different things and must be treated as such in every situation. As I was once drunkenly told at a family gathering “Sam, knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit…but wisdom is knowing to never put one in a fruit salad”. Similarly Carey had the knowledge of the game laws but not the wisdom to foresee the damaging effects it would have on Australia’s image for the rest of the series. England ended up loosing that test match, placing them into a must win position for this weeks game, and it will be interesting to see how the team responds to the drama throughout.
