England's veteran pacer Stuart Broad was left amazed that not one senior player in the Australian team questioned the morality of Jonny Bairstow's dismissal in the second Test match of the five-match series at Ashes 2023. Broad shared his opinion in his column for the Daily Mail two days after the concluding fifth day of the Lord's Test match which saw Australia register a 43-run win after a heated day's of play marred with controversies.
While England are 0-2 down post their second Test match defeat in a row, Broad recalled the cultural changes that Australia had undergone post the ball-tampering scandal in 2018. He was taken aback that not one from the Australian think tank considered that Jonny Bairstow was not looking to take a run when he was out. He did note that the wicketkeeper and the bowler might have felt at the heat of the moment that it was out but someone in the dressing room could have perhaps taken some time to think out the decision.
"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," Broad wrote.
"Especially given what their team has been through over recent years, with all their cultural change. Not one of them said: 'Hang on, lads. I'm not really sure about this.' Not one of them thought: 'He's gaining no advantage. He's not trying to get a run. It's the end of the over. It's a bit of a random dismissal. We should cancel that appeal,'" he added.
"Ultimately, Pat Cummins is a really great guy and I would be amazed, once the emotion settles, if he does not sit back and think, 'I got that one wrong', even though his bottom line at the time was winning a Test match," he said.
The incident happened on Day 5 when Bairtsow ducked under a bouncer and casually left his crease despite the ball still in play. However, the Australian keeper Alex Carey threw the ball onto the stumps to catch Bairstow out of his ground and the England star had to walk back.
England went on to lose match and several former cricketers and experts including Geoffrey Boycott has lashed out Pat Cummins & Co. for them claiming the wicket of Bairstow. Boycott has even demanded a public apology from Australia.
"The red mist came over me, too, when I arrived at the crease to replace Jonny, and some of what I said was picked up on the stump mics -- which naively, given my experience, I didn't really think about. I was angered by Australia's decision, particularly having heard their lines about creating a new legacy as a team, and how they have changed since the tour of South Africa in 2018. I just said to Pat on repeat: 'All these boos are for you, for your decision.' And: 'What a great opportunity you had to think clearly,'" Broad goes on to write in his column before revealing his words to Carey where he said that this is what he will be remembered for.