Former England opening batter Geoff Boycott has demanded a public apology from the Australian team in the wake of the controversial Jonny Bairstow stumping by Alex Carey on day five of the Lord’s Test.
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Alex Carey’s stumping of Bairstow on the fifth morning of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s has been the talk of the town. After ducking under the last ball of the 52nd over, Bairstow walked out of his crease assuming that ‘over’ had been called. Carey took the opportunity to throw the ball at the stumps, resulting in Bairstow being dismissed stumped off Cameron Green, a fast bowler.
A widespread debate regarding the spirit of the game has ensued since the dismissal took place. Several current and former cricketers have jumped on the bandwagon. They include scathing remarks from Boycott, who demanded Australia should apologise publicly “if they are man enough.”
In his column in The Telegraph, Boycott wrote that Australia should think about what they have done and issue a public apology for the dismissal of Bairstow as that is the only way that people will be able to move on from the incident
He first cited a couple of examples from his playing career of incidents where the batter would have been legally out, but the fielding sides upheld the ‘Spirit of Cricket’.
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During Boycott’s first Ashes tour, in 1964/65, Australia wicketkeeper Peter Philpott warned him when he tried to stop a ball from hitting the stumps with his hand. Boycott admitted to apologising to the bowler, the captain, and the umpire, and they moved on.
The other incident Boycott mentions in his column is his first tour of South Africa, in 1964. England captain Mike Smith was run out in a similar manner to Bairstow, and the South Africa captain Trevor Goddard had withdrawn the appeal.
Boycott went on to say that common sense should be applied instead of following the letter of the Law in cases where the batter was not trying to take advantage, as with Bairstow: “If you want to win at all costs then cricket should not be for you. We want people to play hard and fair but surely there are standards to uphold. When batsmen are not trying to take an advantage then you should not follow the letter of the law. Apply some common sense. If a batsman is trying to pinch some ground, as in a Mankad situation, then that is different. But Jonny was not trying to steal a run.”
Boycott even wrote he wanted Australia to apologise, so that everyone could move on: “Australia need to have a think about what they did and make a fulsome public apology. That way it will redress the situation and everyone can then move on.
“Australia have now had time to think about what happened. We all make mistakes in the heat of the moment. People will think better of the Australians if they put their hands up and say ‘we got it wrong’. That is the way to go. Let’s see over the next few days if they are man enough to do that.”
