Credit: Twitter
During the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) match at the Wollongong Showground, the players of the Canberra Raiders mocked the England cricket team by recreating the Jonny Bairstow wicket celebration after scoring a try. It was during the second Ashes Test match at Lord’s in London when Alex Carey inflicted a controversial run out of the English batter. The incident kickstarted an ever-going debate, about whether it was the correct thing to do within the spirit of the game or not.
On July 7, Friday night, in Wollongong, a coastal city south of Sydney, the winger of Canberra Raiders, Jordan Rapana opened the scoring for his team against the St. George Illawarra Dragons. Seconds later, he went into bowling position with the “Steeden,” a rugby ball in hand, while Zac Woolford stood behind the goalpost as the wicket-keeper. In a surprising turn of events, their English teammate Elliott Whitehead took the position of the batter.
In the short clip, which was shared on the official Twitter account of NRL, Rapana threw the Steeden over the head of Whitehead, who ducked underneath it. He then went on walkabout like Bairstow, which led to Woolford performing the Carey impression to seemingly throw down the goalpost.
Watch the video here:
Piers Morgan invokes the Sandpapergate scandal to criticise the Canberra Raiders player celebration
The English broadcasting journalist Piers Morgan sent out a tweet to criticise the players of the Canberra Raiders for their celebration of Jonny Bairstow wicket by tweeting, “Only surprised they didn't bowl the ball underarm after sand-papering it. ”
The viral video from the players of Canberra Raiders was shown live on the Sky Sports Ashes by the former England Test captain Michael Atherton. With this, it can be safely said that the debate on Jonny Bairstow isn’t going to slow down anytime soon.
Meanwhile, it is well-known that the Raiders player celebration was the part of Sportsbet’s annual campaign Try July, wherein the company donates $5000 for every try celebration. During the NRL match, it was revealed that the gambling company is going to donate $10000 for this specific moment, double the usual amount.
