Watch: Australian Players Booed At Lord’s After Jonny Bairstow’s Controversial Run-Out During Ashes 2023

Jonny Bairstow‘s dismissal on Day 5 of the second Ashes Test between England and Australia sparked major controversy at Lord’s with the Australian players getting booed by a major section of the crowd. During the 52nd over of England’s second innings, Bairstow ducked a bouncer from Cameron Green and after the ball was safely inside wicket-keeper Alex Carey‘s gloves, he decided to leave his crease to have a chat with Ben Stokes on the non-striker end. However, the ball was not dead yet and a direct hit from Carey resulted in a massively controversial run-out. It is common practice among batters to inform the keeper or the umpire before they leave the crease after any ball but Bairstow did not do it on this occasion and Australia decided to not withdraw their appeal.

Mitchell Starc sparked an England collapse at Lord’s on Sunday before Ben Duckett was given a controversial reprieve as the hosts maintained their bid for a remarkable win in the second Ashes Test.

England were 114-4 at stumps on the fourth day, still needing a further 257 runs to reach a target of 371.

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Left-handed opener Duckett, who made 98 in the first innings, was 50 not out and captain Ben Stokes unbeaten on 29, with England looking to level the five-match series at 1-1.

Starc, recalled following Australia’s thrilling two-wicket win in last week’s first Test at Edgbaston, reduced England to 13-2.

And they were in dire straits at 45-4 when Australia captain Pat Cummins struck twice in an over.

Duckett then appeared to fall for exactly 50 when he miscued Cameron Green to fine leg, where a sliding Starc held a fine catch only for the ball to touch the turf.

Third umpire Marais Erasmus, to Australia’s visible despair, disallowed the dismissal because Starc had grounded the before he was in control of his body and so had not completed a fair catch.

At the close, England could still think of a win that would be almost as improbable as their one-wicket victory over Australia at Headingley in 2019, when Stokes hit a stunning unbeaten hundred.

(With AFP inputs)