Former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Ian Smith believes Australia’s dismissal of Jonny Bairstow in the second Test was probably not in the spirit of cricket, but added that the spirit of cricket element has been absent from the game for a "long, long time". On day five's play in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, Bairstow was on 10 and England were at 193/5 in the 52nd over when he ducked under a bouncer from Cameron Green and inadvertently walked out of his crease.
On seeing that, Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey immediately directed an underarm throw after catching the delivery, and jumped in joy after firing an accurate throw towards the stumps.
"I don’t think he looked, Jonny Bairstow, I don’t think he looked at Alex Carey at any stage there, he didn’t turn round to see if he gloved it cleanly. It was just a weird course of events and Australia took advantage of it," said Smith on SENZ Radio.
It led to chaos in the middle as Bairstow believed the ball was dead, with Australia immediately going for an appeal. On-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Chris Gaffaney sent the decision upstairs, where TV umpire Marais Erasmus confirmed Bairstow’s dismissal.
