Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s (Picture: Getty)
Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey insists he would repeat his controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow in the Ashes.
Believing the ball to be dead at the end of an over on the final day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, Bairstow left his crease and began walking towards England captain Ben Stokes.
Stuart Broad described the dismissal as the ‘worst thing I’ve ever seen on a cricket field’, while Stokes said he would not want to win ‘in that manner’.
But speaking out on the incident for the first time, Carey defended the dismissal and said he was a ‘little bit surprised’ by the fall-out.
The incident was the biggest talking point of the Ashes so far and prompted responses from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.
‘If there was an opportunity, I definitely would,’ Carey said. ‘To see how much has played out since then, it’s been a little bit surprising.
Australia wicketkeeper Carey has defended the dismissal (Picture: Getty)
‘There’s been some nasty stuff said, but it is the Ashes. There was nasty stuff said before that as well.
‘We were switched on to the fact that it was a bouncer plan and it felt like Jonny was pretty switched on to getting out of the way; he wasn’t playing any shots.
‘When he ducked, his first movement was pretty much out of his crease, so instinctively I grabbed the ball, threw the stumps down and the rest is history, as they say.
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‘Once the bail has come off, it’s up to the third umpire to deem it out or not out, or the on-field umpires – and it was given out.’
England ended up losing the second Test by 43 runs to go 2-0 down in the Ashes series, though they reduced the deficit with a three-wicket win at Headingley.
Stokes’ side still need to win the final two Tests to prevent Australia from retaining the Ashes. The fourth match starts on Wednesday at Old Trafford.
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‘The reaction has been a little bit surprising.’
