‘Bloody oath I would’: Travis Head accuses Jonny Bairstow of Ashes hypocrisy

As the cricket world continues to debate Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal, Aussie Travis Head has accused his rival of being a hypocrite.

Just when you thought we’d reached peak Jonny Bairstow Ashes controversy, there’s more.

Alex Carey’s stumping of Bairstow on the final day of a frenetic second Test at Lord’s has been the talk of the cricket world for the past two days.

Australia has defended the dismissal, stating that is well within the laws of the game and pointing out Bairstow had been frequently leaving his crease before Carey threw down the stumps.

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Meanwhile, England have lost the plot, claiming they would have withdrawn the appeal if they were in Australia’s position, based on the ‘spirit of cricket’.

England coach Brendan McCullum said he won’t be having a beer with the Aussies anytime soon, and captain Ben Stokes claimed he wouldn’t have liked to win in that fashion.

The prime ministers of both countries have weighed in, with Anthony Albanese getting the last laugh.

Now Australian batter Travis Head has revealed Bairstow told him during the first Test at Edgbaston he would have done the exact same as Carey if he had the chance.

Head was seen speaking to Bairstow on the Lord’s pitch as the decision went to the third umpire, and shed light on what he said on LiSTNR’s Willow Talk podcast.

“Jonny wasn’t too pleased,” Head said.

Travis Head reminds Jonny Bairstow of what he said following the controversial dismissal. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

“And I sort of reminded Jonny last week I walked out of my crease at the end of an over.

“I quickly whipped my bat back and questioned Jonny on whether he would take the stumps and he said, ‘Bloody oath I would’, and ran off.”

Head said he had seen the style of dismissal several times during his career, including at Sheffield Shield level.

“We’d seen (Bairstow) try to do it and I’ve seen it happen a few times,” Head said.

“Remember Tommy Cooper getting done at the SCG. ‘Nevs’ (Peter Nevill) threw the stumps down on him.

“If you put on the England hat, they’re disappointed. But the Australia (side), to the letter of the law, which was explained with Mitchell Starc’s catch the day before that it would be out.

“I know they’ve questioned it differently if they were in the same situation but with all the heat out of the air, saying that is a little bit different than in the moment.

“(Stuart Broad’s) comments that the whole of Australia would wake up and Pat wouldn’t be captain … He seems to forget our fans are pretty loyal and pretty happy with the way the Australians are going about things.”

Travis Head chats to Ben Stokes after the Bairstow dismissal. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

In response to Head’s revelation, cricket podcaster Andrew Menczel tweeted: “Bairstow threatened to do a similar thing to Travis Head at Edgbaston.

“You English have lost your collective minds. You just can’t handle Bazball blowing up in your face. Stick to football.”

It comes after footage showed Bairstow himself attempted a similar underarm throw stumping of Marnus Labuschagne earlier in the Lord’s Test.

And vision has surfaced of Bairstow committing a contentious stumping in a county cricket game, using the rules to his advantage.

The video shows Samit Patel leaving a delivery for Nottinghamshire and Bairstow waiting with his gloves next to the stumps, before whipping off the bails as Patel raised his foot off the ground after a delay.

"It's very very smart from Jonny Bairstow"

"Brilliant work by Jonny Bairstow, a wicket out of absolutely nothing there"

"a lot of credit to Jonny Bairstow for realizing the moment"#TheAshespic.twitter.com/OXnt6mCJfG

— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) July 4, 2023

“It’s very, very smart from Jonny Bairstow,” the commentator said.

“Samit Patel will trudge off, the weight of the world upon his shoulders as though it’s all a terrible conspiracy, but in fact it’s a lousy bit of cricket by him.

“Just lifting his foot and Bairstow does the rest.

“A lot of credit to Jonny Bairstow for realising the moment.”

While England are fuming, the Australians appear the calm and logical ones, no doubt pleased that despite the controversy they can say “look at the scoreboard” and remember they lead the series 2-0.

Even former England greats have conceded Australia is a better, more balanced team.

The third Test in Headingley starts on Thursday night and it can’t come soon enough for players, fans, and pundits alike.