England coach Brendon McCullum believes the Jonny Bairstow incident can act as a lightning rod for a fightback in the Ashes series.

Bairstow was given out on the final day of the Lord’s Test when Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw the ball at the stumps after the England batsman walked out of his crease after ducking under a Cameron Green bouncer.

There was confusion in the middle, Bairstow seemingly believing the ball was dead at the end of the over, but Australia were happy to proceed with a deeply divisive appeal.

The umpires sent the decision upstairs for review by TV umpire Marais Erasmus, who had no option but to confirm Bairstow’s stumping dismissal.

Australia went on to win the match by 43 runs to take a 2-0 series lead. The third Test gets underway at Headingley on Thursday.

“In the end, they made a play, they’ve got to live with that,” said McCullum. “We would have made a different play but that’s life.

“In time, we’ll see, but I get the feeling that it might have an effect on them.

WATCH: McCullum’s controversial Murali run out

“I don’t know if it’s anger, but our unit is galvanised,” he added. “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.

“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.”

WATCH: Bairstow, England guilty of hypocrisy?

Meanwhile, former England captain Geoffrey Boycott has called for Australia to apologise.

“Australia need to have a think about what they did and make a full public apology,” Boycott wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

“We all make mistakes in the heat of the moment. People will think better of the Australians if they put their hands up and say “we got it wrong”.

“That is the way to go. Let’s see over the next few days if they are man enough to do that.”