By Malcolm Conn
Former England captain Joe Root has appealed to his Headingley home crowd for calm as fears grow over a possible backlash in reaction to the controversial stumping of Yorkshire teammate Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s.
The Headingley crowd is always raucous, but given the hostile reaction of the Lord’s crowd and MCC members on the final day of the second Test last Sunday, officials fear there is potential for emotion to boil over when the third Test starts on Thursday.
Joe Root speaking with captain Ben Stokes during England nets ahead of the third Test match at Headingley.Credit: Getty Images
“Support England. I think that’s the most important thing, that you come in to support your nation, doesn’t need to go beyond that. It shouldn’t ever go beyond that,” said Root, one of England and Yorkshire’s most decorated players.
“Everyone should be here to enjoy the cricket on the field. And that’s what it should be about and shouldn’t be about anything other than that.”
However, concerns about the crowd did not stop Root or veteran Jimmy Anderson making his feelings known about the dismissal of Bairstow when Root spoke after training on Tuesday.
Both players feel the Australians should not have claimed Bairstow’s wicket when he was stumped by wicketkeeper Alex Carey walking out of his crease during the last day of the second Test, believing the ball was dead after an over had been completed.
Root and Anderson follow England captain Ben Stokes, coach Brendon McCullum, and fellow veteran Stuart Broad over the past two days questioning the way Australia play their cricket.
“Personally, I try and put myself in that situation, that position, and I’d like to think I would have dealt with it very differently,” Root said. “I think Ben spoke very well on it at the end of the game. As a team, we want to play our cricket a certain way and want to leave a certain legacy.
“I said everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Everyone will see it very differently. As a player, you want to play the game how you want to play it. It was within the rules, it was technically out.
“If you’re happy with that, then fine. If not, I don’t think you can [criticise] other people that play the game slightly differently.
Jonny Bairstow looking displeased after Alex Carey took down the stumps at Lord’s.Credit: Getty Images
“If you look at the footage Jonny didn’t take any advantage or didn’t gain any advantage by doing what he’s doing. I think as a batter you’re fully aware when you’re batting out of your crease that you are for a number of different reasons gaining advantage whether it’s covering different angles, trying to take modes of dismissal out of the game, rather than scratching your mark at the end of an over.
“There’s always something. Every series has something. Obviously, it was going to create debate and draw attention but the fact that we’re still talking about it now ahead of the next game [surprises me].”
Asked if the incident was going to change what has been an amicable relationship between the two side, Root replied: “Don’t know really. We’ll see, won’t we?”
Anderson aimed up in his column for the London Telegraph a day after Stuart Broad took the same defiant approach in his Daily Mail column.
“It was not like he was trying to steal a run,” Anderson wrote. “It is different to hitting a batsman on the pad and him looking for a run during an lbw shout and a fielder throwing the stumps down. It is also different to when someone is batting out of their crease and the ball goes through to the keeper, and they try to roll it on the stumps.
“Bairstow’s foot was behind the line, he was scratching the crease and then walked off to see his partner at the end of the over. I thought it was the end of the over. And, as Stokes said after the game, ‘would you want to win a game that way?’ I think we have enough players on our team to say, ‘I’m not sure about this. It does not feel quite right’.
“It is fair to say Bairstow was not best pleased. He made his opinions clear in the dressing room as you would expect. It was a situation made for a player like him. He felt it could have been his day and that was not how he wanted it to end, so he was very frustrated. It might make him a bit more determined when he goes out there next time.”
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