Further to the comments regarding the stumping, l'd like to put forward a view from a former Australian captain, Mark Taylor.
Now before any of you decide that Taylors view is going to be slanted towards us Aussies, consider that this former players' view, is held in high regard around the world, for being factual and above all else, fair, regardless of which country, comment is at stake.
Stumpings are stumpings, always has been, always will be....................
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It’s just cricket: Why the Bairstow furore has me absolutely stumped
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Mark Taylor
Former Australian cricket captain
July 4, 2023 — 8.40am
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It’s a legitimate form of dismissal and has been as long as I’ve known the game of cricket. I’ve seen many wicketkeepers throwing the ball towards the stumps to try and claim an unsuspecting batsman’s wicket.
I can remember Rod Marsh throwing the ball towards the stumps off Dennis Lillee’s bowling, Ian Healy did the same thing when a batsman was out of his crease, we’ve seen Jonny Bairstow do it in the latest Test, I’ve seen footage of England coach Brendon McCullum doing it back in 2009. This sort of stuff has been going on for a long time.
People want to invoke the spirit of cricket, but I really don’t see it as that sort of issue. Batsmen are now batting out of their crease and wandering out of their crease trying to put bowlers off their length, which is fair enough.
But the batsmen have to remember there are 10 ways to get out in Test cricket. One of them is by being stumped, and it doesn’t say in the laws it has to be off a slow bowler. If you’re going to wander out of your crease doing whatever you want to do, be mindful that you can be stumped. So, your job as a batsman is to get back in your crease until the ball is dead.
And that’s according to the umpires and the fielding side, not just because you think it might be dead. Bairstow was caught wandering out of his crease when the ball wasn’t dead. Alex Carey was quite entitled to throw the ball at the stumps and Cummins and the Australians were quite entitled to appeal. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the end of the story.
the Australian players were treated after completing this entirely legitimate dismissal, particularly in the Long Room. I will congratulate Guy Lavender, CEO of the MCC, for getting onto it reasonably quickly, calming down the MCC members and suspending three of them. However, I think that’s the minimum amount they need to do at this stage.
All in all, the behaviour of the members towards the Australian players was poor to say the least, and inappropriate for anyone, particularly the members.
The Long Room
I’m disappointed with the way the Australian players were treated after completing this entirely legitimate dismissal, particularly in the Long Room. I will congratulate Guy Lavender, CEO of the MCC, for getting onto it reasonably quickly, calming down the MCC members and suspending three of them. However, I think that’s the minimum amount they need to do at this stage.
All in all, the behaviour of the members towards the Australian players was poor to say the least, and inappropriate for anyone, particularly the members.
I love the fact that they have that access to get so close to the players. Walking through the Long Room is something I recall as a player. It’s unique to the game of cricket. In my day they didn’t have ropes separating players and members. Back in the 1980s and ’90s you just made your way out through the Long Room and excused yourself around members who were sometimes smoking cigars and pipes.
If that tradition, which I really enjoy, is going to continue, this type of poor behaviour needs to be stamped out. If not, it would mean the access will have to be changed, and that will not be great for the game of Test cricket.
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The game would be poorer if the bad behaviour of some members brought an end to the tradition of players walking through the Long Room.CREDIT:NINE
England captain Ben Stokes has hedged his bets a little. Obviously, he’s got to go in and bat for his teammate Bairstow, who would be embarrassed by his dismissal during a tight last day in front of a Lord’s crowd. That was an embarrassing dismissal because he’s the one at fault. He’s the one who’s created the opportunity for Australia to stump him.
There’s been a lot said and written from all sides about what is really a straightforward dismissal and some of it hasn’t been particularly helpful. I hope both sides will take stock, have a breather and work out that it was, in fact, just a dismissal. It was an unusual one, yes, but it is part of the game.
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Analysis
The Ashes
How England weaponised the ‘spirit of cricket’ against Australia
I hope that when the third Test starts on Thursday we see the same tough contest we saw during the first two Tests in what I think has been an enthralling, high intensity series played in great spirit.
I hope people look back on this Test they will remember a great game, not a crucial final-day stumping because that’s all it was.
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