Pat Cummins says the hysteria following Jonny Bairstow’s infamous dismissal at Lords last year was “even more intense” than how he remembers.
Discussions following the Ashes Test were exclusively focused on Aussie wicketkeeper Alex Carey’s stumping of Bairstow, despite Australia claiming a 43-run victory.
Cummins revealed that the curtain is set to be lifted on the controversial moment in the new season of the Australian Cricket Team’s documentary, The Test, including a look into the incident that occurred inside Lords’ famous Long Room.
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Speaking on Triple M’s Rush Hour, the 31-year-old said he believes the final hour and a half of cricket at Lords after the incident were some of the most intense minutes of play that the team has endured.
“That was a bit of the general sentiment around the team,” Cummins said.
“It was nuts. It was crazy. And I think reliving it, looking back at the footage, it’s even more intense than how I remember it.
“(The stumping) was just something that I’m sure you’ve seen 100 times attempted … It happens every weekend.”
“It was one of those ones where you walk off thinking, ‘Oh, okay this is a 2 out of 10 on the intensity scale’… and then it just goes (up). You go, ‘Oh I got that one wrong.’
Cummins revealed he had tipped off Carey to take a shot at the stumps, after realising the Englishman had left his crease and walked towards the centre of the pitch to speak with teammate Ben Stokes.
Bairstow was left stunned after he was given marching orders following a third umpire’s review of the moment, sparking mass backlash from the English public.
Cummins said Aussie players were surprised by the hostile response inside the Long Room, claiming “you couldn’t design a less scary mob of people” in comparison to those who were in the building that afternoon.
”(It was) bizarre because they’re all a certain demographic and wearing their ties,” Cummins laughed.
“I think one of the boys said you couldn’t design a less scary mob of people than that group that were yelling at us.
“It’s crazy and again, the boys were fantastic in the midst of a hell of a lot of chaos.”
Cummins said that he did not believe the new season would be an engaging one, however, was proved wrong following the crazy response to the Ashes.
“I went into this season thinking it would be quite a dull one… but then a few dramatic things happened,” he said.
Widely regarded as one of the all-time greatest fast bowlers, Cummins made a mark with the bat during the first Test, when he formed a remarkable partnership with Nathan Lyon to claim victory.
“It had already been built up for about 12 months leading up to the first Test match. It was probably the best Test match that I’ve been part of,” he said.
“You couldn’t have written a better script, the crowd was going crazy. That night, I think I got about 1000 messages on my phone.”