Josh Tongue hails Jonny Bairstow as 'hero' for protecting pitch from climate protesters

Jonny Bairstow, the England wicket-keeper, has received praise from his teammate Josh Tongue for his actions in protecting the Lord's pitch from pitch invaders during the first day of the second Ashes Test at Lord's. After the first over, two individuals wearing Just Stop Oil t-shirts approached the pitch with chalk and paint powder in their hands and spread it all around.

3 things you need to know

• England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl in the 2nd Ashes Test
• Australia smashed 416 runs in the first innings with the help of Steve Smith's hundred
• England started their first innings brilliantly with the top order still intact

Bairstow intervened and prevented one of the intruders from causing damage to the pitch. He swiftly carried the individual to the boundary line, where the security members took over.

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Tongue hails Bairstow as a 'hero'

Due to the incident, Bairstow had to change his white shirt, leading to a delay of six minutes in the match. Josh Tongue, who made his Ashes debut, commended Bairstow's actions in a press conference after the first day of play. Tongue stated that Bairstow's intervention potentially prevented the match from being called off and referred to him as a hero. He also mentioned that he didn't approach the intruders, fearing they might have had other harmful intentions. Tongue said:

If Jonny didn't do what he did, who knows where the game could be now? It could've been called off. He's a bit of a hero! My back was turned. I heard Jonny shout and then saw him running after him. I probably wouldn't have gone towards them, just in case they had anything else on them.

This incident comes in the wake of protests by the Just Stop Oil activists, who have been disrupting various major sporting events in Britain throughout the year. They briefly halted the England team bus during the Test against Ireland in London earlier this month, and they have also targeted Premier League soccer matches, the Premiership rugby final at Twickenham, and the world snooker championship in Sheffield.

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On the field, Tongue had a notable day as well, dismissing Australian openers, Usman Khawaja and David Warner. He finished the day with figures of 2 for 88. However, Australia's Steve Smith and Travis Head played crucial innings, helping the team reach 339 for 5 by the end of the day's play.

Image: AP