The amazing thing about sport, and this seems to apply to cricket more than most, is how it divides opinion.
We saw it on Saturday night with Mitchell Starc’s catch: all of Australia thought it was out, all of England, including me, thought it was not out.
But the crux of the matter for Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal from Lord’s on Sunday was whether he was looking for an advantage.
Yes, I saw a clip from earlier in the game when Jonny, in his guise of wicketkeeper, threw the ball to the stumps himself. But that was because Marnus Labuschagne hit outside his crease – trying to take the lbw out of the game. In other words, looking for an advantage.
Clips of Colin de Grandhomme being knocked out in the Lord’s Test last year have also done the rounds, which is just the most ridiculous comparison ever, as he got hit on the path as he came across the field, looking for a run and Ollie Paus threw the stumps out of the gully. Again, trying to gain an advantage.
Jonny Bairstow (right) was controversially chased off by Alex Carey at Lord’s on Friday, with Australia winning the match to win 2-0 in the Ashes
Pat Cummins (left) chose not to withdraw his side’s appeal after Bairstow’s controversial wicket
Controversy has subsequently shrouded the Test match, with many claiming the dismissal was not in the spirit of the game
England’s Stuart Broad has opened up on a flammable and controversial day at Lord’s
With regard to the Jonny incident, no advantage was gained there: he let the ball go, scratched his goal into the crease and acknowledged it was the end of the over and went to talk to Ben Stokes.
And if you look at the footage of when the stumps were broken, one umpire has the bowler hat in hand, the other walks head down from a square leg – actions that suggest they too thought the over was over.
So, within the rules, is the ball still live because Alex Carey catches and throws it? Probably. Is England taking advantage? No. Does a packed stadium people think that ball is up and down? Yes. On BBC radio commentary, Jonathan Agnew has already moved on to calling the ball.
What surprised me, and what I told the Australians I couldn’t believe when we left the field at lunchtime, was that there wasn’t one senior player among them – and I quite understand in the emotion of the game that the bowler and wicket-keeper would have thought ‘that’s over’ – wondered what they had done.
Especially considering what their team has been through in recent years, with all their cultural changes. None of them said, ‘Wait a minute, guys. I’m not really sure about this.’ None of them thought, ‘He’s not getting any advantage. He’s not trying to run. It’s the end of the end. It’s a bit arbitrary dismissal. We have to scrap that profession.’
At the end of the day Pat Cummins is a really great guy and I’d be surprised if once the emotion has sunk in he doesn’t 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 is clearly a big fan of cricket and never before have I seen such a reaction from them. They were so angry.
Bairstow seemingly stepped out of his fold after the over to talk to Ben Stokes on the non-striker’s end. He had also scratched the crease before crossing the line
Alex Carey (pictured) saw Bairstow leave and threw the ball at the stumps, getting him rejected
At the time England were chasing but Australia would eventually win by 43 runs
Following the controversy, Sir Geoffrey Boycott told Cummins (pictured) and Australia to apologize to England
Broad (right) arrived in Bairstow’s wake and went on to excite the Australians by sarcastically letting them know he was in his fold on several occasions
At the end of that first session, the change from the roar the Long Room gave to Ben Stokes to the boos they had reserved for the Australians coming in was great. They knew long before that point how controversial a decision they had made.
I’m not saying that the MCC members yelling at players were right, but having toured Australia four times, I certainly don’t think hostile behavior towards away teams is uncommon.
The red mist came over me too when I got to the crease to replace Jonny, and some of what I said was picked up by the stump microphones – which naively, given my experience, I didn’t really think about.
I was angry with Australia’s decision, especially having heard their rules about creating a new legacy as a team and how they have changed since the 2018 tour of South Africa.
I just said to Pat repeatedly, “All this booing is for you, for your decision.” And: ‘What a great opportunity you had to think clearly.’
Also, I had to support Ben Stokes in any way I could, in any form, and I’m always better when I’m in a fight. Normally I try to pick a fight with someone from the opposition, but this time I picked a fight with the whole team.
To Alex Carey I said, “You’ll be remembered for this, and it’s such a shame.”
It might have been a little crazy, but I also yelled “in” every time I crossed the line. It annoyed the Australians for maybe half an hour, although they were probably a little bored after two and a half hours. Frankly, it was a pleasure to be there with Stokesy when he was in one of those moods.
We were both in our zones. He wanted me to respond to him. So if he was going to run then go with him, if he didn’t then don’t move.
In those situations, he chooses which balls to face and what to do, and the purity of his attack to the leg side, both hitting sixes over the fielders and placing fours between them, is extraordinary.
There was really only one way for a left-hander to swing out on that slow pitch: with the wind in the direction of Father Time. I actually felt like Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood had to bowl from the Nursery End because Stokesy cleverly aimed for deliveries from there and just survived on the other side.
That brilliant 155 gave us a fighting chance and when you finish a test match and lose by 43 runs you look at everything and you think, where could we have gotten those 43? To be behind four times early for 45 and get so close to a target of 371 was very impressive, especially losing Jonny that way.
Again, it wasn’t the act that irked me, it was the fact that they upheld the appeal.
Headingley isn’t the quietest place at the best of times, but this week we’ll have to use the atmosphere to our advantage.
Tempers flared in the Long Room at Lord’s as members harassed Australian players on their way to the dressing room
Stokes gave a late chase for England, but despite scoring an admirable 155, helping to narrow the deficit, his side fell short.
Stokes and Cummins exchanged a word after play ended on day five at Lord’s
Yes we are 2-0 down after two quite theatrical Test matches which have lived up to what Ashes cricket is all about but looking at our dressing room most of us have a bit more ‘achievement’ in them and we will also do bring that to Leeds.
I said at the beginning of the summer that I would like to play one test, but now my job is to rest, recover and make myself available for Thursday.
Squad isn’t my thing, but even though I’ve bowled more balls than anyone else in the series, I’m done for another five days.
And I believe whoever we put on the field, we will do the business. Three games to go, we now have to deal with three results places. This series has turned into a gunfight and we’re confident we can still do it.