Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has expressed his disappointment with Brendon McCullum’s comments regarding Jonny Bairstow‘s controversial dismissal during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.
On the final day of the second Test, just before the lunch break, Bairstow (10) was dismissed in a peculiar manner. After ducking a bouncer from Cameron Green, Bairstow wandered out of his crease, and Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey stumped him out.
Bairstow’s dismissal proved to be a crucial moment in the Lord’s Test, as England were chasing a record total of 371 runs and Bairsrow and skipper Ben Stokes were the last recognized batting pair. The incident sparked a strong reaction from the Lord’s crowd, who booed and jeered the Australian team for the rest of the match.
After the game, Brendon McCullum, the head coach of the England Test team, expressed his belief that Carey’s actions were against the spirit of the game.
“I think it was more about the spirit of the game and when you become older and more mature you realise the game and the spirit of it is something you need to protect. You have to make decisions in the moment and they can have effects on games and people’s characters,” McCullum said to BBC after the match.
“By the letter of the law he is out. Jonny was not trying to take a run and the umpires had called over. It is one of those difficult ones to swallow and you look at the small margins it is incredibly disappointing,” the England red-ball head coach further added.
However, in his media address following the match, McDonald defended Carey, stating that he was well within his rights to break the stumps. McDonald also highlighted Bairstow’s repeated tendency to leave his crease as a contributing factor.
“There’s no doubt when a player is leaving their crease or leaving their ground at certain periods of time that you take that opportunity. It got sent upstairs and ultimately, the officiating third umpire decides it’s out, it’s within the laws of the game. So yeah, I don’t see too many issues with it, to be perfectly honest,” McDonald said in the post-match presser.
“I haven’t spoken to him. I’ve heard that comment for the first time, and I’m somewhat disappointed by that,” McDonald concluded.
Australia emerged victorious in the Lord’s Test, winning by 43 runs and taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match Ashes series. Despite England captain Ben Stokes’ impressive innings of 155 off 214 balls, Australia successfully defended the target of 371 runs, bowling out the hosts for 327.
The third Test of the Ashes series will take place at Headingley, starting from July 6th.
