Three Just Stop Oil protesters tried to force their way into Lord's field, two of them succeeded. Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth 
Although protesters sprayed orange paint over the pitch, England captain Ben Stokes and others guarded the test wicket. Photo: Getty Images/Stu Forster 
Stokes and Australian newcomer David Warner team up to stop one of the protesters who had a small bag filled with paint can. /> The lord's bodyguards soon arrived on the scene, even dressed in football boots to get them ready to run across the turf. Photo: Getty Images/Ian Kington 
On the other side of the field, Barstow made himself a hero by carrying a protester off the field in his wicket gloves. ” /> In a tactic used by Just Stop Oil, the protester goes limp to try to make himself as heavy as possible while smirking at the crowd. Credit: Reuters/Matthew Childs 
But Bairstow manages to bring it to the boundary, where the fans cheer for the English wicket. f28484. jpg” />And one of the protesters is taken away by the police. Photo: Reuters/Peter Cziborra
Warner and Josh Tong, the English bowler, praised Bairstow.
“He's a bit of a hero,” Tong said. “If he hadn’t stopped him, they might have taken the field. What he did was good. If they had powdered the wicket, who knows what the game would be like now.”
Warner, meanwhile, admitted that he and Stokes did not know how to react because the official advice given to the players was not was involved.
“Me and Stokesy really didn’t know what to do,” he said. “We were warned in advance that this could happen and we wanted to protect our gate. We saw it in snooker a month or so ago, we just wanted to keep the wicket, to be honest.
“It's a delicate situation, you don't want to interfere in it, but we wanted to prevent them from getting into the gate. It was quite difficult because you don't know what to do in such a situation, you usually let these people run their course, but since they could potentially damage the gate, we felt that we had to intervene.
“We they were actually told to back off and be careful but we know what they are trying to do with the gate so it was not about treating them like Johnny but protecting the gate and how we felt there. I don't know what that chalk is doing to the wicket, but that would be a long delay and we wouldn't want that.”
Protesters were loudly booed by a crowd of around 32,000 during a break in play that lasted about five minutes.
All three were arrested by police after being lifted off the ground, the Metropolitan Police said.< /p>
Just Stop Oil soon claimed responsibility for the protest, criticizing Lord's for partnering with JP Morgan, which they named “the world's worst fossil bank with $317 billion in fossil fuel financing from 2016 to 2020.”
The protesters were condemned by both sides of the political spectrum, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak particularly praising Bairstow. “I think this selfish guerrilla tactic, aimed at events that bring joy to millions, is why the government has given new powers so that the police can take quick action,” Sunak said.
“[I] am satisfied. this game was quickly resumed thanks to the security staff, the quick hands of Johnny Bairstow and other England players.
Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said: “[Sir Keir] has spoken out against Just Stop Oil's tactics on numerous occasions. They are counterproductive, dangerous and wrong. This kind of activity is inappropriate and not justified in any way.”
Guy Lavender, chief executive of the MCC, denounced the protesters in “the strongest terms” and it is understood that even tighter security will be in place from day two after protesters manage to avoid suspicion upon entering the grounds. In addition to other updates, field perimeter control will be strengthened and bag checking will be improved. Notably, the security personnel who detained the protesters were wearing football boots to ensure they didn't slip on the outfield.
Just Stop Oil has a habit of disrupting major events lately, including including the Rugby Premier League. the final at Twickenham, the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible and the Chelsea Flower Show. They waited for the jewel in the crown of English summer to burst onto the cricket field.
Cricket had been on high alert all summer with field intrusions, fearing that the band's familiar orange-paint trick would damage the playing surface if they hit the field. Lord's has already improved safety this summer, and Oval and Edgbaston have prepared additional fields for recent test matches in case the main lane, which takes months to prepare, is damaged.
In 1975, the third test between England and Australia at Headingley was abandoned after the field was attacked at night by vandals who poured a gallon of oil on it and dug three large holes to campaign for the release of robber George Davis, an east London minibus. the driver is imprisoned for participating in an armed robbery.
Bairstow is in uniform to fight field invaders. At the Oval in September 2021 in a Test against India, he collided with YouTube prankster Daniel “Jarvo 69” Jarvis as he broke onto the pitch. Here he followed the lead of English rugby player Tom Curry, who helped stewards round up protesters at Twickenham last month.
Oil protesters invade field at Lord's.pic.twitter.com/BEN5jIv0mU
— Telegraph Cricket (@telecricket), June 28, 2023 .protest on the way to land. Barstow then tweeted his annoyance, with Broad saying, “They only caused us a five minute delay and I think that just made Johnny Barstow very angry. Everyone else was pretty calm about it.”
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