England cricket fans uncover footage of Jonny Bairstow ‘practicing’ hauling off a Just Stop Oil eco zealot at Lord’s – in a clip of him lifting a team-mate in the gym just last year!
- The second Ashes Test at Lord’s was nearly disrupted by Just Stop Oil activists
- England’s Jonny Bairstow took it upon himself to intercept the protesters
- Fans have since found footage showing Bairstow ‘practicing’ for the incident
England fans have found footage that shows Jonny Bairstow ‘practicing’ to haul off a Just Stop Oil eco zealot during the second Ashes Test.
England’s wicketkeeper batsman defied pre-match safety protocols given to both teams by intercepting a Just Stop Oil protester armed with orange power paint heading for the Lord’s pitch and carrying him 50 yards to the other side of the boundary.
The bizarre incident was caught on camera and left fans – and team-mates – full of praise for Bairstow’s quick-thinking.
However, the incident may not have as impromptu as it was first made out, after England fans found footage that appeared to showed Bairstow performed a similar act, behind closed doors, last year.
The video, which appeared on Twitter, showed Bairstow performing a fireman’s carry on England team-mate Sam Curran before cutting to a clip of Wednesday’s incident.
England fans have found footage that seemingly shows Jonny Bairstow practicing to remove a Just Stop Oil protestor
In bizarre scenes on Wednesday, Bairstow was forced to physically remove an activist from the field of play
The 33-year-old could be seen performing lunges with his team-mate upon his shoulders before the video cuts to his run-in with the Just Stop Oil activist.
In bizarre scenes during the Test, two protesters ran onto the outfield from the Grand Stand shortly after play began at 11am and after Bairstow’s intervention, other players guarded the playing area.
England captain Ben Stokes stopped the second man before security personnel were on the scene.
The actions of Bairstow prevented the wicket being damaged, although there was a two-minute delay as he ran off to replace a shirt stained orange in the hullabaloo.
Meanwhile, Lord’s groundstaff came out to clean up the paint residue as those apprehended were booed by the 31,000 crowd.
Bairstow was later praised as a ‘hero’ by England team-mate Josh Tongue after the incident.
‘I didn’t see it at first, Jonny doing what he did, but who knows, the game could’ve been called off,’ said the England fast bowler.
‘Bit of a hero, to be fair. If he didn’t stop him, they could’ve got on the pitch.’
Ben Stokes also got involved as he stopped the second man before security personnel arrived
Australia opener David Warner, who was at the crease at the time of the second over incident and hit a half-century in the tourists’ 339 for five, added: ‘We’d been warned beforehand that it might happen.
‘We were actually told to stand away and be careful but we know what they’re trying to do to the wicket so it was about – not manhandling them like Jonny – but protecting it.
‘I don’t know what that chalk does to the wicket but it would have been a long delay and we wouldn’t have wanted that.’
The MCC pre-prepared a second pitch for this match as one of their extra security measures in the event of a Just Stop Oil demonstration – but it would still take time to get it game-ready.
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