Amid 'Spirit Of Cricket' Debate, Ex-England Captain Blames Jonny Bairstow's 'Dozy' Attitude For His Dismissal At Lord's

The wicket of Bairstow was decisive in the manner in which the game unfolded from there on with the hosts going on to lose the match by 43 runs

Jonny Bairstow of England leaves the field after being stumped by Alex Carey of Australia during Day Five of the LV= Insurance Ashes 2nd Test match between England and Australia at Lord's Cricket Ground on July 02, 2023 in London, England. ( Image Source :Getty Images )

While the cricket world is divided over Jonny Bairstow's dismissal with most England star feeling that the dismissal was against the spirit of the game and Aussies assuming that the wicket was justified since it was within the rules of the game, a former England captain has now blamed the batter for the manner in which he got out. This is none that the ex-England skipper Michael Atherton who reckons that there shouldn't be any debate of "spirit of cricket" since it was the "dozy" attitude of the wicketkeeper-batter that led to his downfall on Day 5 of the second Ashes Test at Lord's.

"Cummins said the dismissal was a fair one and at no stage thought of revoking the appeal and calling back Bairstow. There was certainly no requirement for him to do so. The Spirit of Cricket does not come into it. It was a dozy bit of cricket from Bairstow to allow Carey the opportunity and reflected much of the flabby cricket played by England in this match," Atherton wrote in his column for The Times.

The wicket of Bairstow was decisive in the manner in which the game unfolded from there on with the hosts going on to lose the match by 43 runs and trail the five-match series 0-2. Bairstow was the last recognised batter who could have made a difference had he stayed as England lost the match by a narrow margin of 43 runs. England captain Ben Stokes did make a fighting 155 but couldn't take his team over the line. It should also be noted that Australia also had the services of just four seamers in the final innings with their spinner Nathan Lyon sustaining an injury while fielding in the first innings and playing no role with the ball in hand for the rest of the match.

In the third Test match, Lyon is reportedly set to be replaced by Todd Murphy. However, England would look back at the two Test matches and the opportunities they missed out on and would want to make amends moving forward. Atherton also pointed out noted how the Three Lions did not make the best use of the conditions.

"From winning a good toss, England had the better of the conditions and failed to take advantage of the calf injury to Lyon that will surely put him out of the rest of the series," he wrote.

Notably, Lyon has been ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes series.