The former England captain Joe Root has opened up on the Jonny Bairstow run-out that took place at Lord’s during the last Ashes Test series in 2023, where the latter wasn’t sure about the laws and restrictions of the game.
Root has declared in a recent video with the England Cricket Board (ECB), that he could have comfortably stumped a player in the same fashion the way Australia controversially did to Bairstow then.
The incident happened during the mid-session, when the wicket-keeper batter of the England side, Jonny Bairstow ducked the short ball from Cameron Green, and without any notice, just strolled onto the other end to have a chat with his captain Ben Stokes.
‘Jonny Bairstow will hate me saying this, but…’- Joe Root
Once Bairstow was out of the crease, the wicketkeeper of Australia Alex Carey threw the ball at the stumps, and it hit it, and they appealed. Even after having conversations with the opposition captain Pat Cummins, they were not reluctant to take back their appeal at that point.
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After various angles of checking, the third umpire Marais Erasmus gave the red light to the batter, as the rule said that until the square leg umpire hasn’t called the ball dead, it would be associated with play, and the batter has no rights to leave his ground at that moment.
The moment Jonny Bairstow left the short ball and kindly strolled into the other end of the crease, the square leg umpire of that over, Ahsan Raza was yet to call the ball dead, and as far as the rule and regulations, the wicket-keeper or any member of the fielding side has the right to find the batter short of his crease.
With the dismissal, the whole ground booed the Australian team, which is quite unlikely of the Lords, as there were a few internal matters in the long room, where a few members were also thrown out for their rude behavior towards the Australian players.
At the end of that day, England captain Ben Stokes coming into the press match conference felt that they wouldn’t have done the same, even after knowing the right law always addresses it as ‘out.’
‘I’m not disrupting the fact it is out because it’s out. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would have put more pressure on the umpires and asked whether they had called over and had a deep think about the whole spirit of the game.’ The England captain Ben Stokes expressed on Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal. ‘For Australia, it was the match-winning moment. Would I want to see a game in that manner? The answer for me is no.’
Exactly a year later, in a video posted by the ECB, another veteran Yorkshire batter Joe Root said that he would have dealt with that incident differently.
‘Initially, I was quite angry, but I think when you’re involved in the game it’s very difficult to put yourself in the other position. So I’d like to say I would have dealt with it differently, but I could very easily have done the same thing.’ Joe Root said in that video. ‘At the end of the day, it’s within the laws of the game. You should be aware as a player. Jonny (Bairstow) will hate me saying this, but if you stay in your crease you can’t get given out can you.’
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The video also found the man- Jonny Bairstow himself describing that moment, at the Lord’s Test, when the hosts were chasing 371 runs to win.
‘Look I can’t wait for tomorrow. We’ve been a part of some special things over the last 18 months.’ The 34-year-old Jonny Bairstow remarked on the event. ‘And for me, it just feels like it could potentially be one of those amazing days, and someone just stand up and put their name on the board, make a contribution, stick your chest out, front up and we’ll be fine.’
Another all-round Moeen Ali also observes that the batter always tend to leave the crease so early. Bairstow has been dropped from the first two of the three Tests against West Indies, starting from July 10.