• Source:JND

JE Sports Desk:  The ongoing Ashes Test series between England and Australia is understandably heated with every passing day, especially after a few controversies became part during the second Test at Lord's.

The first two days of the third Test Headingley had everything to be enjoyed, from Mitchell Marsh's counterattack to Mark Wood and Pat Cummins' bowling masterclass, third game is also all set to thrillingly go down the wire.

Besides all this action, another instance that grabbed all the attention on social media occurred between Jonny Bairstow and Steve Smith on the second day of the match.

 

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During Australia's second innings, Steve Smith played a shot on Moeen Ali's delivery and was caught by Ben Duckett. As he was making his way back to the dugout, Bairstow was heard saying, "See ya, Smudge!" Smith, who got infuriated with the comment, said, "What was that, mate?!? HEY!" To which the English wicketkeeper replied, "I said, 'Cheers, see ya later'."

Smith, who is playing his 100th Test match, failed to impress in both innings of the special game, scoring just 22 and 2 as he became Moeen Ali's 200th Test scalp in the second innings.

The right-handed batter, however, had a great outing in the field as he bagged five catches during England's first innings to help his skipper Pat Cummins take a six-for to restrict the hosts to a 26-run deficit.

The hosts managed o reach 237/10, thanks to some magnificent hitting from captain Ben Stokes who smashed 80 runs to impress the Headingley crowd once again.

Bairstow, on the other hand, was under so much attention after his controversial dismissal in the second Test at Lord's and failed to contribute with the bat in the first innings and is having a horrible match behind the wickets.

 

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The wicketkeeper-batter has dropped multiple catches with England still on the field as the visitors finished the Day on 116/4 with a lead of 142 runs under the belt.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain slammed the fielding of Stokes and Co and called their trend of dropping catches a 'virus'.

"It's like a virus, it spreads through the team," Hussain told Sky Sports Cricket. "I'm not just talking about in a day, it's in a series - you lose it, you get hard hands."

"The greatest catchers I played with were Mark Waugh and Nick Knight, and they had soft hands. Jonny Bairstow will know he should be taking that, Joe Root will know he should be taking that - these are not difficult chances, but now it's spreading like a virus."

"You're thinking 'don't come to me, don't come to me', when in the field you should be wanting every ball to come to you," he further said.