On the final day of the 2nd Test, Bairstow was stumped by Cameron Green’s bowling of the last ball of the 52nd at-bat during the second inning, when England was getting to 371 points.

The sequence of events surrounding the one-ball was as follows. After Bairstow dodged Green’s bounced ball, he walked out of the box without landing the bat, assuming the ball was dead, and the pitch was complete.

But no sooner had he reached midfield to face Ben Stokes than he heard the Aussies celebrating. Shocked, he turned around and saw that the bails were broken. Vigilant Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey scooped up the ball at the stump, and Bairstow was out of bounds. The on-field umpires handed the decision to TV man Mara Erasmus, who gave him an out.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Stuart Broad’s key wickets early and late in the first session of Ash’s third Test at Headley gave England hope of retaining the series win, with the tourists leading 91-4 by lunchtime.

As the tension mounted after a controversial second Test at Lord’s, which Australia won and led 2-0 in the series, Broad made England fans rise from their seats when he removed opener David Warner for the 16th time in his Test career in the first over.

Mark Wood, back in the lineup for the first time in this series, then showed a frightening pace bowling and a 95 mph lightning knocked the stump from Usman Khawaja’s leg off.