Moment when Marnus Labuschagne trolls Jonny Bairstow after the last ball in the fifth Ashes Test, but James Anderson ‘hits the Aussie with a strong comeback’
- The controversial blow of the Lord reared its head again
- Wicketkeeper and Labuschagne participate in some theater
- The Aussies finished the first day on top with some good bowling.
Marnus Labuschagne and Jonny Bairstow have shown that the drama over England’s controversial wicketkeeper perplexing at Lord’s is alive and well, as they had a one-off exchange after the last ball of the fifth test, before James Anderson had the last word. .
Alex Carey’s sacking of Bairstow became the climax of the Ashes series when he came out of his crease after mistakenly thinking the ball was dead, and the Australian stars were abused by English fans as they walked through the Long Room of the famous course during a break in the game.
The heated discussions that followed saw the tourists accused of violating the ethos of cricket, and even escalated to the point where the Australian and British Prime Ministers became involved.
Bairstow made a cheeky comment to Labuschagne on the final ball of day one’s game at The Oval on Thursday by pretending to be ready to hit the ball to the stumps after gloved the shot.
Labuschagne engaged in a bit of theater with Bairstow, dramatically dragging his bat behind the crease after the final ball as he reminded the English wicketkeeper what he should have done during the second Test at Lord’s.
The batsman responded by looking at the keeper as he dragged his bat across the ground in dramatic fashion as he left his box, as if showing Bairstow what he should have done at Lord’s.
That’s when Anderson hit the Australian with a few choice words.
“Anderson seemed to suggest, ‘we don’t do that’ when they crossed paths,” cricket writer Bharat Sundaresan tweeted.
Several members of the England team had similar words for Pat Cummins and his team after the scandal at Lord’s, with skipper Ben Stokes saying he “wouldn’t want to win like that” and accusing the visitors of forgetting the “spirit of the game”.
Anderson claimed his side would not have appealed for the same sort of stumping against Australia had the opportunity arisen, and Bairstow sent the tourists a cheeky message with a play on the crease while batting during the third Test at Headlingley.
Fast Englishman James Anderson (pictured) hit the Australian with a spiky return after watching his exchange with Bairstow.
Labuschagne finished with two not out as Australia came within 61-1 in response to England’s 283.
Labuschagne finished the day with two not out as Australia made it 61-1 in response to England’s 283, with David Warner going down for little money once again, bowled out for just 24 against Chris Woakes’ bowling.
Mitchell Starc was the Australian attacking choice, battling pain in his injured shoulder to take four wickets, including the all-important scalping of Stokes with a pearl ball.
But arguably his biggest impact came when he caught top-scorer Harry Brook at 85, with England losing their last seven wickets relatively cheaply after coming to 184-3.
