England’s Stuart Broad has said that Australia captain Pat Cummins will regret not withdrawing the appeal for Jonny Bairstow’s wicket after the England star was controversially dismissed on the final day of the second Test at Lord’s.
Bairstow was stumped by Alex Carey, caught wandering out of his crease at the end of a Cameron Green over, with the third umpire upholding Australia’s appeal as the ball was not deemed ‘dead’.
However, the wicket has sparked huge debate and, as a fired-up Broad took to the crease as the next batter, he made his feelings clear, theatrically making sure his bat was in at the end of the over and having words with wicketkeeper Carey about the dismissal.
Despite a heroic 155-run cameo from England captain Ben Stokes, the home outfit never fully recovered and the conversation has continued surrounding the importance of the wicket.
Now, in his column for the Daily Mail, Broad has weighed in and said: “So, within the laws of the game, is the ball still live because Alex Carey catches it and throws it? Probably. Is there any advantage being taken by England? No. Does a full stadium of people think that ball has been and gone? Yes.
“On BBC radio commentary, Jonathan Agnew has already moved on from the calling of the ball. 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,” he said.
Broad also referenced the cultural shift that the Australian team has been working hard on since the ball-tampering scandal of 2018.
The scandal happened during a Test match against South Africa in which Cameron Bancroft was seen to be tampering with a ball using sandpaper and captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were found to be involved.
Since, the Australia team has worked hard to repair their image and the England bowler believes they will reflect and believe they made the wrong decision.
England coach Brendon McCullum believes the decision to not withdraw the appeal will eventually have an ‘effect’ on the Australia team and believes the anger from it will only ‘galvanise’ his England side as they look to win the crucial third Test.