Bairstow revisited? Stumping controversy avoided as Smith takes the high ground
Australia avoided a repeat of the Jonny Bairstow stumping controversy after deciding to withdraw an appeal during their Champions Trophy clash with Afghanistan in Lahore.
Afghanistan had just run a single to take the score to 8-248 at the end of the 47th over when tailender Noor Ahmad made his way to the middle of the pitch to talk to his teammate.
Australian wicketkeeper Josh Inglis whipped off the bails as soon as Noor left his crease, and the on-field umpires sent the half-hearted appeal to the third umpire.
Steve Smith withdraws the appeal against Afghanistan.Credit: Amazon Prime
There was no doubt that Noor was well and truly out of his crease, and under the letter of the law he would have been given out, as the over wasn’t officially completed.
But just before the third umpire could analyse the vision, Australian captain Steve Smith approached the on-field umpires to withdraw the appeal.
It was a vastly different outcome to what occurred during the 2023 Ashes in England, when wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw down the stumps after Bairstow had walked down the pitch thinking the over had finished.
Australian captain Pat Cummins proceeded with the appeal on that occasion, with Bairstow’s dismissal playing a vital role in England’s loss at Lord’s.
Writing in the London Telegraph, scribe Nick Hoult framed Smith’s decision in Pakistan as an example of Australia now realising their controversial tactics in England were off the mark.
“Steve Smith withdrew a runout appeal in Australia’s match against Afghanistan on Friday, suggesting they now accept they were wrong to go through with the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s two years ago,” he wrote.
Hoult continued: “The ninth wicket in the Afghanistan innings in a Champions Trophy lacks the pressure of a Lord’s Ashes Test and Smith, scarred by his involvement in the sandpaper scandal, was clearly keen to avoid more controversy.”
The Bairstow stumping remains one of the most contentious and talked-about moments in modern cricket.
Australia’s candid dressing room debrief in the immediate aftermath and the flurry of abuse from Marylebone Cricket Club members in the Lord’s Long Room that happened afterwards was revealed by an Amazon Prime documentary series The Test, which was released last year and captured the epic fight for the Ashes.
Members of the touring Australian side were left with a sour impression of the way the crowds at Lord’s and elsewhere turned on them, combined with what opening batter Usman Khawaja called the “self-righteous” attitude of the England team.
The tensions between the team went to another level with the dismissal of Bairstow when Cummins and Carey noticed a tendency to wander out of his crease – the gloveman hit the stumps with an instinctive underarm that found Bairstow well out.
Nearly two years on, Australia’s tactics are in the spotlight yet again.
After Smith withdrew the appeal in Lahore on Friday, Afghanistan went on to make 25 more runs in the last three overs before being dismissed for 273 on the final ball of the innings.
Smith’s men were racing towards victory on 1-109 after 12.5 overs before heavy rain hit in Pakistan, forcing the match to be abandoned as a no-result and sealing Australia’s place in the semi-finals.
Staff writers with AAP