Former Australian captain Mark Taylor has reminded cricketers that if stumping is among the modes of dismissals permitted by the legal guidelines of the sport then it’s completely the batsman’s accountability to protect his wicket.
England batter Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal on the ultimate day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s has introduced stumping into focus once more with dialogue about spirit of the sport overriding the foundations of cricket.
On the ultimate day of the second Test, Bairstow ducked a gradual bouncer from Australia’s Cameron Green and walked out of the crease, considering that the ball was already ‘dead’.
However, wicketkeeper Alex Carey broke the stumps with a direct throw and third umpire Marais Erasmus adjudged it stumped.
“The batsmen have to remember there are 10 ways to get out in Test cricket. One of them is by being stumped, and it doesn’t say in the laws it has to be off a slow bowler. If you’re going to wander out of your crease doing whatever you want to do, be mindful that you can be stumped,” Taylor in his column for Sydney Morning Herald.
“So, your job as a batsman is to get back in your crease until the ball is dead.” Taylor mentioned the mode of dismissal has been legit because the time he has recognized and performed the sport, including that he had “no issues” with what Australia skipper Pat Cummins and his crew did in the mean time in time.
“I’ve received no difficulty in any respect with what Pat Cummins and the Australian crew did over the past day of the Lord’s Test after they stumped Jonny Bairstow.
“It’s a legitimate form of dismissal and has been as long as I’ve known the game of cricket. I’ve seen many wicketkeepers throwing the ball towards the stumps to try and claim an unsuspecting batsman’s wicket.”
Taylor mentioned simply two days earlier than Bairstow’s dismissal, the England wicketkeeper-batter had himself had been criticised for a “controversial stumping”.
“Jonny Bairstow found himself on the receiving end of a controversial stumping, but two days earlier tried to pull one off himself — the incident drawing parallels with England head coach Brendon McCullum when he stumped Paul Collingwood.” Bairstow’s dismissal was virtually similar to an episode in 2009 involving then-New Zealand cricketer-turned-England coach Brendon McCullum and England’s Paul Collingwood.
Collingwood had wandered from his crease after leaving the final ball of an over and keeper McCullum threw the ball on the stumps throughout a Champions Trophy recreation in Johannesburg, “I can remember Rod Marsh throwing the ball towards the stumps off Dennis Lillee’s bowling, Ian Healy did the same thing when a batsman was out of his crease, we’ve seen Jonny Bairstow do it in the latest Test, I’ve seen footage of England coach Brendon McCullum doing it back in 2009. This sort of stuff has been going on for a long time,” added Taylor.
Taylor added he was dismayed with the best way the Australian gamers had been handled following the incident.
“I’m disillusioned with the best way the Australian gamers had been handled after finishing this completely legit dismissal, notably within the Long Room (at Lord’s). I’ll congratulate Guy Lavender, CEO of the MCC, for getting onto it moderately shortly, calming down the MCC members and suspending three of them. However, I believe that’s the minimal quantity they should do at this stage.
