Jonny Bairstow under fire for decision not to use nightwatchman as England let positive platform slip
Bairstow edged behind to Mitchell Starc off what would prove the final ball of the day
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jonny Bairstow has been criticised for his decision to go into bat late on the first day of the fifth Test at Sydney, instead of allowing England to send in a nightwatchman. Just nine balls remained in the day when Joe Root’s wicket fell, and according to non-striker Dawid Malan, it was Bairstow’s decision to bat, despite the fact that the new ball had just been taken.
Bairstow edged behind to Mitchell Starc off what would prove the final ball of the day, and afterwards both Graeme Swann and Michael Vaughan were highly critical of Bairstow’s decision on BT Sport.
It shows a lot of bravado,” Swann said. “It’s got nothing to do with Jonny. This is for the team. It’s unnecessarily dangerous, you don’t have a say in it, take your pads off. It’s absolutely crazy.” Vaughan added that it was “not sensible” for Bairstow to go in to face a new ball when Starc was swinging the new ball back into the right-hander.
Malan admitted he was “a little bit” surprised to see Bairstow emerging from the pavilion. “But,” he added, “the decision’s not the coach’s to make. Jonny made that decision, and good on him. It takes a lot of guts to go against what people normally do. He probably felt he was better suited for the new ball.
“Look, some people like them and so many don’t. I’ll have a nightwatchman every time if you ask me. Each to their own. At the end of the day, he backed himself and he got out. It’s pretty simple.”
England have used Chris Woakes as a nightwatchman previously in this series. And with Woakes injured, England may have decided that both Tom Curran and Mason Crane were too inexperienced to face Starc with the new ball, and that neither Stuart Broad nor James Anderson had the required technique to deal with the short-ball barrage that would have ensued. For Malan, the last 10 minutes of the day “summed up where we’ve been on this tour”.
“To be five down after all the hard work we’ve put in today is not ideal,” Malan said. “The position we were in, we were aiming to get 400-450 at least. Those two wickets have put us back a bit, but there’s no reason why, if we get through that new ball, we can’t get another 150 runs."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments