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Travis Head claims England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow threatened same stumping on him

MCC members confront Australian players

Travis Head has accused Jonny Bairstow of blatant hypocrisy, revealing the England wicketkeeper threatened to stump him as he left his crease on the last ball of an over at Edgbaston.

The gulf between Australia and England over the stumping of Bairstow at Lord’s has continued since Sunday, with Stuart Broad highly critical of his Ashes rivals in a column.

England’s main issue has been that it believes Bairstow thought the ball was dead at the end of the over when he wandered out of his crease and was stumped by Alex Carey.

But Australia has continued to defend the dismissal, noting that Carey immediately threw the ball after catching it, given Bairstow regularly walked out of his crease after deliveries.

The Australians have also pointed to evidence of Bairstow returning the ball at the stumps while keeping, a point contended by captain Ben Stokes earlier this week who argued it was different when done mid-over.

But Head has now stated that Bairstow threatened to stump him at the end of an over in the first Test in the exact same manner, and that he immediately raised it with the Englishman amid protests about the dismissal at Lord’s.

“I reminded Jonny last week I walked out of my crease at the end of an over,” Head told the Willow Talk podcast.

“I quickly whipped my bat back and questioned Jonny on whether he would take the stumps and he said, ‘Bloody oath I would’, and ran off.

“I reminded him [of that]. Whether he remembered saying that or not. Two days before he also tried to throw Marnus [Labuschagne]’s stumps down too.”

Head also questioned whether England would have withdrawn its appeal in similar circumstances, after both Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum said they would have.

“I know they’ve questioned it differently if they were in the same situation but with all the heat out of the air, saying that is a little bit different than in the moment,” Head said.

“There’s been some in the past when [wicketkeepers] have held the ball and waited for someone to lift a foot.

“This was purely in the same play. It wasn’t sneaky. It was done pretty quickly. It left Alex Carey’s hand straight away.”

Joe Root attacks  Australia

Meanwhile former England skipper Joe Root has doubled down on England’s criticism of the Bairstow stumping, suggesting Australia’s players risk being remembered for the incident after their careers.

Root became the latest Englishman to attack the dismissal on Tuesday (British time), adding more fuel to the fire for what is expected to be a heated third Test at Leeds come Thursday.

In a lengthy press conference at Headingley, Root claimed England would never have appealed for that kind of stumping during his five years as Test captain.

But he saved the most direct advice for Australian players, while clearly still upset over Carey dismissing Bairstow after the English batsman walked out of his crease.

“As a player it’s [about] how you want to play the game, how you want to be remembered,” Root said.

“And that’s up to each individual.

“As a team, we want to play our cricket a certain way and want to leave a certain legacy.

“I try to put myself in that situation and position and I would like to think I would have dealt with it differently.”

Root’s comments came after Broad made similar remarks to Carey during play on day five at Lord’s, before the quick also criticised Australia in a Daily Mail column on Tuesday.

England’s reaction has prompted accusations of them being sore losers in Australia, with headlines such as “Cry Babies” and “BazBawl” splashed across tabloids.

A point Root is not overly impressed with.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Everyone will see it very differently. As a player you have to play the game how you want to play it,” Root said.

“It was within the rules, it was technically out. If you’re happy with that, then fine.

“If you’re not, I don’t think you can [criticise] other people who play the game slightly differently.”

Root also rejected Australia’s suggestion Bairstow had attempted to stump Labuschagne in similar fashion earlier in the match at Lord’s, after the Queenslander left a ball in the first innings.

“If you look at the footage, Jonny didn’t gain any advantage by doing what he was doing [when batting],” Root said.

“As a batter, you are fully aware when you are batting out of your crease that you are gaining an advantage.

“Whether it is covering different angles or trying to take modes of dismissal out of the game.

“[That’s different to] scratching a mark at the end of the over and walking to the other end.”

Despite that, Root has called for calm at Headingley this week after the ugly scenes in the Lord’s long room on Sunday, with the Yorkshire crowd renowned for being one of the harshest in the country.

“Support England,” he told them.

“You’re coming to support your nation, it doesn’t need to go beyond that. Everyone should be able to enjoy the cricket.

“Come here to support your team, do it to the best of your ability and we will play to the best of ours.”

The third Ashes Test begins on Friday.

-AAP
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