Senior England seamer Stuart Broad expects Australian captain Pat Cummins to reflect on his appeal against Jonny Bairstow on Day 5 of the second Test at Lord’s. The 37-year-old observed that the crowd reaction that day was unlike any he has witnessed before.
England cricketers have expressed their frustration over the contentious stumping of Bairstow on Day 5. With the Yorkshire batter striding out of the crease after ducking a ball from Cameron Green, Alex Carey flicked the stumps with an underarm throw. The third umpire adjudged it out, stunning the English players and crowd.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Broad stated that he would be amazed if Cummins didn’t think he got it wrong:
“Ultimately, Pat Cummins is a really great guy and I would be amazed, once the emotion settles, if he does not sit back and think, ‘I got that one wrong’, even though his bottom line at the time was winning a Test match. The Lord’s crowd are obviously huge cricket lovers and never before have I seen a reaction from them like that. They were very angry.”
At the post-match presentation, Cummins called it completely fair play. However, his counterpart Ben Stokes claimed that he wouldn’t resort to such tactics to win the game and questioned Australia’s sportsmanship.
Stuart Broad stunned at no Australian players taking a stand against Bairstow dismissal
While the Nottinghamshire seamer admitted that emotions might have taken over, he expected at least one Aussie player to stand up against Bairstow’s dismissal. Broad added:
“What amazed me, and what I told the Australians I could not believe as we left the field at lunch, was that not one senior player among them — and I very much understand in the emotion of the game that the bowler and wicketkeeper would have thought ‘that’s out’ — questioned what they had done.”
Australia won by 43 runs at Lord’s, giving them a healthy 2-0 lead in the five-Test series. The third Test starts on July 6 at Headingley.