England cricket team recently found themselves at the center of a controversy surrounding their player’s reaction to the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow during the ongoing Ashes series. Accusations of England being sore losers have been splashed across tabloids with headlines such as “Cry Babies” and “BazBawl” by Australian media, and they are facing huge backlash for their against the spirit of the game argument. However, former English skipper Joe Root has come forward to address these allegations and has provided some much-needed clarity.
Root stated that everyone has a certain way of approaching the game and that England would not have appealed for that kind of stumping if he were in a similar situation. He supported his assertion by emphasizing that Bairstow did not intentionally attempt to gain an unfair advantage.
Root further said that he’s baffled by the Australian media coverage on the issue and added that his stance completely aligns with the comments made by Ben Stokes, who also supported the view that Bairstow’s actions were not deliberate post the match. In light of these developments, Root also urged everyone to put the incident behind them and concentrate on the upcoming match at Headingley.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. To be honest I can’t believe how much has been covered on it. My point of view, if you look at the footage, Jonny didn’t gain any advantage by scratching your mark back at the end of an over and then walking to see your mate at other end,” said Root while addressing a press meet.
“I try and put myself in that situation, in that position and I’d like to think I would’ve dealt with it very differently. Ben [Stokes] spoke very well on it at the end of the game. As a team, we want to play our cricket a certain way. We want to leave a certain legacy and clearly it’s been very different how we’ve gone about cricket, Test cricket, in the last 18 months. We want to play our cricket in a certain way and we’ll continue to do that, I think it’s time for everyone to move on and let’s concentrate on this game [Headingley Test] now,” he added.
The third Ashes 2023 Test between England and Australia is set to take place in Leeds from July 6. This match holds significant importance for England, as Australia currently leads the five-match series by 2-0 and is just one victory away from securing the series.
