Bairstow has gone some way towards redeeming himself a short time ago by catching a Just Stop Oil protester before they made it onto the square, although I'm sure there'll be plenty of people who'll be complaining that Ben Foulkes would have caught him even sooner.
What a match this is turning out to be. One for the ages! It’ll be Sir Ben Stokes if he pulls this off.
It was a really poor show from Cummins not to withdraw the appeal for Bairstow's stumping. That sort of situation is akin to when the non-striking batsman is setting off too early and leaving himself vulnerable to being run out (being "Mankaded") by the bowler, as the sporting convention in the spirit of the game is to stop and give him a warning; see Chris Gayle doing just that, below. The (same old cheating) Aussies were supposed to have turned over a new leaf after sandpapergate, but it seems that "win at all costs" remains the antipodean mantra. I lost out on getting a 5 fer last season when my skipper called a batsman back after he was given out LBW, but one of our slip fielders admitted that he'd edged it on to his pads. I know there's a bit of a difference between village and test cricket, but we were fighting to avoid relegation so it meant a lot to us and the level you're playing at shouldn't determine the level of sportsmanship. If anything, the pros should set an example for the rest of us. Still - we shouldn't be too hard on the Aussies, as they're rubbish at most other sports and their country is full of spiders and snakes!
Very well said. Poor form in my opinion and worthy of the derision back in the Long Room. Suspending MCC members is bullshit.
They were the MCC ultras, the Aussies must have been shitting themselves having to walk pst that lot …..NOT
I disagree entirely with the first part. As far as I am aware NZ does not have a reputation for being like this at all. In terms of the second part, give em hell, they deserve everything they get, etc!…remember, nothing stinks like an aussies underarm!
FTFY NP He was rightly given out and punished for his schoolboy error, it seems that this dismissal has placed shade on Ben Stokes great innings. It should make for a great final game………
Sorry. I didn’t mean to include NZ (I thought “antipodean” only referred to Aussies, but every day’s a school day). We have a couple of Kiwi players in our cricket club and they’re as incensed as we are.
I don't know why McCallum is all upset, he did it to England when he was Wicket Keeper/Captain playing for NZ, maybe twice as well.
There are lots of Indians in some parts of Americky and Septics like games that last a long time but have short breaks between plays, so it could well take off.
In other news, they announced the team for the Old Trafford test yesterday and they’re sticking with Bairstow behind the stumps rather than bringing Foakes back in
