"It's going to galvanize the unit" - Head coach Brendon McCullum expects England to draw inspiration from the Jonny Bairstow dismissal

England head coach Brendon McCullum believes his side will be motivated by the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow on Day 5 of the second Ashes Test at Lord's. The wicket-keeper batter was dismissed bizarrely with England teetering on 193-5, chasing a mammoth 371 for victory.

Bairstow ducked under a short delivery and prematurely walked out of his crease. Meanwhile, Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey collected the ball and whipped a throw at the stumps in one motion, catching the batter short of his ground. The Aussies decided to appeal for a stumping, and the third umpire ruled in their favor since it wasn't deemed a dead ball yet.

The dismissal proved to be a game-changer, as the hosts were defeated by 43 runs to fall into a 0-2 deficit in the best-of-five series.

In the post-game media interactions, skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have been critical of the dismissal and the Aussies going against the "spirit of the game".

Speaking about the dismissal to BBC Cricket, McCullum hoped it would inspire the side in the remaining three Tests.

"I don't know if it's anger but the unit is galvanised. There are times as a coach where you've got to reduce emotion because it's going to bubble over and you can make poor decisions, but there's times when you allow emotion to go because it's going to galvanise the unit," said McCullum.

"That's what I felt this emotion did for the side. I looked around the group and the guys were a little upset. If that helps us to win those key moments in the next Test, then I'm all for it," added McCullum.

The dismissal did not go down well with the packed crowd, who booed the Australian team for the rest of the game, including during the presentation ceremony.

Despite the divided opinions about the incident amongst analysts and fans, the playing conditions for a dead ball indicate the stumping to be within the rules.

"We've got to polish up a couple of the areas" - Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum remained confident about his side winning the Ashes series despite facing a 0-2 deficit. England lost the opening Test by two wickets at Edgbaston before suffering another heartbreaking defeat by 43 runs at Lord's.

The hosts were ahead at different stages in both Tests but squandered the opportunity to take control of the game on each occasion.

"We've got to polish up a couple of the areas where the game has sat on a knife-edge and we haven't been able to grab it. We do talk a lot about being able to absorb pressure, identifying when the time is to put pressure back on, being courageous enough to do so. There's times when you will get it wrong, you can't play the perfect game," the English head coach said.

"All we will encourage guys to do is make the decisions that they feel are right at that point in time. I don't think we are far away - the margins of the Test matches suggest that. We have to make sure morale stays high, the unit is galvanised and we adapt to conditions we are presented with at Headingley as quickly as we can. If we do that, we will give ourselves the best chance," concluded McCullum.

Despite the latest setback, England had tasted victory in 11 of their 13 Tests before the Ashes since Brendon McCullum took over as head coach of the side.

However, they will have to make Ashes history, becoming the first English side to bounce back from 0-2 down and win the series.

The third Test of the absorbing battle between the arch-rivals starts at Headingley on Thursday, July 6.