Stuart Broad has revealed what he told Pat Cummins after the controversial Jonny Bairstow dismissal and says Australia’s captain will live to regret his decision not to withdraw the appeal.
The dismissal sparked a barrage of boos from around the ground, with the Australian team confronted by angry MCC members in the Lord’s pavilion at lunch.
The fall-out from Australia’s 43-run win has been just as dramatic, with Ben Stokes saying he would not want to win in ‘that manner’ and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak criticising the tourists’ approach.
Broad was the next batter in after Bairstow’s contentious dismissal and briefly threatened to help England clinch an astonishing victory as the pair put on more than 100 in a chase of 371.
But England’s chase crumbled after Stokes departed for a sensational 155, with Australia winning by 43 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match Ashes series.
Reflecting on the Lord’s controversy in a column for the Daily Mail, England bowler Broad said: ‘The crux of the matter for Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal at Lord’s on Sunday was whether he was looking to gain an advantage.
‘Yes, I have seen a clip from earlier in the match when in his guise as wicketkeeper, Jonny himself threw the ball at the stumps. But that was because Marnus Labuschagne was batting outside of his crease – in doing so, attempting to take the lbw out of the game. In other words, seeking an advantage.
‘With regards to the Jonny incident, zero advantage was being taken there: he let the ball go, scratched his mark within the crease, and acknowledging it as the end of the over, went to speak to Ben Stokes.
‘And if you look at the footage of when the stumps were broken, one umpire has got the bowler’s cap in his hand, the other is head down, walking in from square leg – actions that suggest they too thought the over had finished.
‘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.
‘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.”
‘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.
‘The Lord’s crowd are obviously huge cricket lovers and never before have I seen a reaction from them like that. They were so angry.
‘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.”
‘To repeat, it was not the act that annoyed me, it was the fact they upheld the appeal.’
Broad’s former England team-mate Ian Bell also suspects Cummins will live to regret his decision not to withdraw the appeal, though he believes Bairstow would have owned his mistake.
‘Jonny will know that it’s on him,’ he told Betfair. ‘After all was said and done after defeat on day five he would have gone back to his hotel room, closed the door, looked in the mirror and said to himself: that’s my mistake.
‘In the heat of the moment, with the crowd riled and his team-mates angry about what had occurred he may have been feeling aggrieved.
‘But once everything has cooled off, I suspect he will be bitterly disappointed that a moment of poor concentration has been so costly.
‘I was watching it live on TV when it happened and my gut reaction was “he’s wandered off way too early there”. If he had just looked behind, to see what Alex Carey was up to there would’ve been no issue.
‘Carey has thrown the ball before he’s even left the crease, so it suggests it’s something he’s noticed over a period of time.
‘Jonny himself had tried it the day before, although it was different because Marnus Labuschagne was batting out of his crease. In Jonny’s case, he was clearly not seeking an advantage.’
England are now faced with the task of becoming just the second team in history to win an Ashes series from 2-0 down.
Despite this difficult challenge, Broad remains ‘very confident’ that England can reclaim the urn as the teams travel to Leeds for the third Test, which starts on Thursday.
‘Three matches left, we will now be faced with three result pitches,’ he added. ‘This series has turned into a shootout and we are very confident we can still do this.’
MORE : ‘Sprinter stewards’ hired as Ashes venue ramps up security after Lord’s incidents
MORE : Geoffrey Boycott calls on Australia to make public apology for Ashes controversy
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