England and Australia are currently locking horns in the first match of the Ashes 2023 at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. Home skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first. The two teams have so far gone neck to neck with each other and have played a high brand of cricket. 

England batted staggering well in the first innings and on account of Joe Root’s sensational ton posted a total of 393 runs on the board before skipper Ben Stokes made a surprise declaration and called back his team. But after that, they bowled well on the morning of Day 2. 

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The chief architect behind England’s staggering start on the Day 2 has been veteran Stuart Broad. The right-arm pacer bowled some exceptional lines and lengths and troubled the Australian batters. He removed David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne on two back-to-back balls to jolt the opposition.

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The credit of Marnus Labuschagne’s wicket goes equally well to keeper Jonny Bairstow as well. The keeper-batter took a stunning diving catch and covered decent ground to grab a one-handed stunner to send the No.1 ranked Test batter back on a golden duck. 

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After Jonny Bairstow took the catch of Marnus Labuschagne, Mark Taylor, who was commentating during the match, questioned whether Bairstow had broken his leg at all, ‘or whether he’d just had six months holiday’.

Notably, Jonny Bairstow missed a lot of cricket due to the freak injury he suffered ahead of the T20 World Cup. 

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Ashes 2023: “It was no surprise to us,” Jonny Bairstow on England’s retirement 

With less than half an hour remaining for the stumps on Day 1, skipper Ben Stokes called his team back and bold declaration. What was even more surprising was England were about to cross the 400-run mark and Joe Root was still there in the middle batting at 118 with the pitch being flat. They wanted to have a crack at Australia’s openers for the remaining 20 minutes and bowled decently as well but couldn’t take any wickets. 

Jonny Bairstow talked about the decision to retire and said that it wasn’t a surprise for them. He explained: 

“It was no surprise to us. You’ll all be aware that a 20-minute slot for any opening pair is something that’s not very nice and can be a bit niggly. It was a decision that Ben and Brendon [McCullum] made in conjunction with the bowlers. It’s a shot to nothing, isn’t it? You can walk off and there might be an unbelievable ball in there – there might be a loose shot or whatever.” 

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Also Read: Ashes 2023: Ben Stokes Changes Are About How To Get Wicket, Pat Cummins Was Looking To Stop Runs – Michael Atherton Touts Difference Between Leadership Of Two Teams As Fundamental