Bairstow’s dismissal will galvanise England, feels coach McCullum

The dismissal proved to be a game-changer, as the hosts were defeated by 43 runs to fall into a 0-2 deficit in the best-of-five series

England head coach Brendon McCullum believes the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow on Day Five of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s will only “galvanise” the hosts as they look to win the crucial third Test, starting on July 6 at Headingley, Leeds.

On the final day of the second Ashes Test, Bairstow, under the assumption that the ball had been declared dead and the over had ended, unintentionally vacated his crease as wicketkeeper Alex Carey launched a throw towards the stumps, resulting in his dismissal.

Brendon McCullum

The dismissal proved to be a game-changer, as the hosts were defeated by 43 runs to fall into a 0-2 deficit in the best-of-five series. “I don’t know if it’s anger but the unit is galvanised. There are times as a coach when you’ve got to reduce emotion because it’s going to bubble over and you can make poor decisions, but there are times when you allow emotion to go because it’s going to galvanise the unit,” McCullum was quoted by BBC. “That’s what I felt this emotion did for the side. I looked around the group and the guys were a little upset. If that helps us to win those key moments in the next Test, then I’m all for it,” he added.

Also Read: Ashes 2023: Ravichandran Ashwin backs Alex Carey after Bairstow run-out controversy

McCullum further expressed his confidence that England can still win the series despite facing a 0-2 deficit. “Three-two has a nice ring to it. We’ve got to polish up a couple of the areas where the game has sat on a knife-edge and we haven’t been able to grab it. We do talk a lot about being able to absorb pressure, identifying when the time is to put pressure back on, being courageous enough to do so.

“There are times when you will get it wrong, you can’t play the perfect game. All we will encourage guys to do is make the decisions that they feel are right at that point in time. I don’t think we are far away—the margins of the Test matches 
suggest that,” he said.

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