Former cricketer David Gower feels Jonny Bairstow’s sloppy attitude cost him his wicket on the last day of the Lord’s Test of the 2023 Ashes series. He expressed that Jonny Bairstow was casual and careless in his approach, while the wicket-keeper Alex Carey was sharp to stump the England batter out.
Jonny Bairstow was leisurely walking out of his after facing a bouncer. He failed to confirm with the Australian fielders if the ball was dead. Alex Carey seized the opportunity and stumped out Bairstow. The dismissal once again sparked the spirit of the game debate.
The Australian team was booed by the England crowd following the incident. In an exclusive interview with Betway, David Gower shared his thoughts on the dismissal. He said,
“I’m of the opinion that Jonny Bairstow, sadly, was casual and careless. If you just think about it for a moment, and I’m sure he would have thought about it constantly, the assumption he made was not an assumption you should make in the midst of an Ashes Test match.”
David Gower expressed that Jonny Bairstow should have been more aware, and looked behind before leaving his crease. He said,
“Yes, the ball had gone into the keeper’s hands, but that little tap of the toe as if to say, ‘I’m in, I can do what I want now,’ was naive, I’m afraid. All he had to do was just look behind him for a moment.”
“That’s what we’ve always done in Test cricket, whether it’s Bazball or any other era. If you’re thinking straight as a batsman, you just look behind you. He would’ve seen the throw coming, he’d have dotted his bat in, and he’d have been absolutely fine. The fact that he went for a stroll straight away was a false assumption and a bad mistake,” he added.
There was nothing underhand about what Alex Carey did: David Gower
David Gower further shared that Alex Carey was sharp to seize the opportunity and dismiss Jonny Bairstow. He added that Pat Cummins was correct to not recall Jonny Bairstow to the crease. The Australian skipper was criticised by many for his decision to stay with the call. David Gower expressed,
“As far as I’m concerned, Carey was just being sharp. There was nothing underhand about what Carey did – apart from the throw, which was spot on – it was just the sharpness of thinking. Cummins has been under pressure for not recalling Bairstow. But if he recalls Bairstow, what’s the message? You can be as stupid as you like. Some of my friends have said to me, ‘Oh, you’d have called him back.’ And I’m not sure I would have.”
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