As well as England head coach Brendon McCullum has warned of the adverse impact of the controversial sacking of Jonny Bairstow in the second Test at Lord’s on the remaining matches of the Ashes series.
Though Bairstow left strangely just before lunchtime on the last day, the English batsman came out of his crease after dodging a Cameron Green and was stunned by Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey. The dismissal has once again sparked debate over the ethos of cricket, and McCullum believes Australia’s antics will harm the overall sportsmanship of the Ashes series.
McCullum also believed the incident would affect the series’ spirit, which had exploded with Ollie Robinson’s dismissal of Usman Khawaja in the First Test at Edgbaston. England’s antics, after Birmingham-including the claim that it felt like a win, were known to attract attention in the Australian camp before Lord’s. It’s also not bad that McCullum exhausted his opponents twice during his Test career, celebrating the milestone that included Muttiah Muralidaran.
What Brendon McCullum said about it?
McCullum said: “I think it will have an effect; I think it should. Ultimately, they made a play; they had to stick to it. We would have made a different play, but that’s life.”
Australia won the Lord’s Test by 43 runs to take a 2–0 lead in the five-match series. The hosts must win their remaining three Tests to avoid losing their Test series against Australia at home from 2001.
“From their point of view, we can still come back in this series, and that’s where their focus should be. There [the England dressing room] is a galvanized unit, and we have seen Captain Broady and the guys fight back at the end, which shows how much it means to the team. We’ll nurse our wounds and try to come back and make things right,” McCullum said.
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“In the end, Australia won the test match, which was fair game for them. It’s a shame when you have millions of people worldwide, and you have a full house at Lord’s, and you have everyone.” “With all eyes on this series, that (the firing) will probably be the most talked about aspect for the next few days, and that’s disappointing,” added the coach.
England and Australia will meet in the third Ashes Test at Headingley from 6 July.