NEWS
Follow UsStuart Broad, in a three-part documentary series 'The Ashes 2023 | Our Take', produced and aired by England and Wales Cricket Board, admitted that Alex Carey’s controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow ultimately ended up playing into England’s hands as it ‘ignited’ the series and got the fans firmly on the Three Lions’ side.
Following a nerve-wracking win in the first at Edgbaston, Carey stumped Bairstow in controversial fashion in the second Test at Lord’s when the game was in the balance. Bairstow, after ducking a short ball, left his crease thinking the ball was dead, but Carey fired a throw to the stumps. The decision was taken upstairs and Bairstow was ruled out by the third umpire.
Carey, on the back of the incident, became England’s No.1 enemy, and the incident spurred The Ashes on to life. The series eventually ended up finishing 2-2 despite the Aussies holding a 2-0 lead after the first two Tests.
"It was genuine anger and red mist for about ten minutes," Broad recalled of his arrival at the crease after Bairstow’s dismissal.
"I can't really remember what I was saying, I had lost the plot a little bit.
"I kept up this sort of pantomime performance for about three hours.
"I carried on doing my petulant nonsense. "This … ignited the series. This is what we wanted; the fans are properly with us here."
In the same documentary, Moeen Ali opined that Australia missed an opportunity to paint themselves in good light following what happened in Cape Town back in 2018, with regards to the ball tampering saga.
"I just thought it was a great opportunity for Australia, with everything they've gone through over the years, it's a missed opportunity I guess," Moeen said.
"(But) it's the law and it's out."
Joe Root, however, pinned the blame on Bairstow and claimed that his Yorkshire teammate would never have been out in a million years had he just not left his crease.
"Initially I was quite angry, but I think when you're involved in the game it's very difficult to put yourself in the other position," Root said.
"So I'd like to say I would have dealt with it differently (than Australia), but I could very easily have done the same thing.
"At the end of the day it's within the laws of the game. You should be aware as a player.
"Jonny will hate me saying this, but if you stay in your crease you can't get given out can you?".
England captain Ben Stokes, meanwhile, narrated how he enjoyed Broad absolutely losing it in the middle, wanting to essentially pick a fight every Australian player.
"Broady has always been a person who looks for something to get him going," Stokes recalled.
"He came out fiery, he wasn't happy and he felt he needed to pick a fight with the whole Australian cricket team out on the field.
"I don't think I've ever witnessed a cricketer shouting at the opposition captain from 40 yards away.
"Broady did say 'am I going a bit too far here?' and I said 'nah, keep it up, it's class'.
"It was some good spectating but I chose to stay out of it and just concentrate on what I needed to do."
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