UK PM accuses Australia of not following spirit of cricket in Bairstow dismissal

Following the 43-run loss at the Lord’s which allowed Australia to surge to a 2-0 lead, their best-ever margin early in an Ashes contest away from home in over 22 years, England captain Ben Stokes expressed his displeasure at the contentious stumping of Jonny Bairstow by Alex Carey moments before Lunch on the final day of the second Test.

Stokes said that he would have never wanted to win in that fashion had he been in the shoes of Australia skipper Pat Cummins. While world cricket has been divided over the incident, Stokes has found support from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“If the shoe was on the other foot I would have put more pressure on the umpires and asked whether they had called over and had a deep think about the whole spirit of the game. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no,” Stokes had said in an interview with BCC moments after the defeat.

Bairstow had walked out of the crease after ducking a short ball from Cameron Green, but with the ball still in play, Carey threw the ball at the stumps and dislodged the bails. Bairstow was left shellshocked while loud boos followed from the fuming English fans creating a hostile environment for the Aussies throughout.

Despite the dismissal being well within the laws of cricket, Sunak has accused Australia in the spirit of cricket debate over Bairstow’s dismissal.

Asked on Monday whether the British PM believes that Australia’s act was not within the spirits of the game, his spokesman said: “Yes”.

“The prime minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did,” the spokesman added.

Rishi Sunak’s unmissable Ashes verdict

The series was considered to be the true test for Bazball, but the defending World Test Championship winners have shut all the talk around England’s Test cricket revolution as they took an early 2-0 lead in the five-match series and now head to the third Test at Headingley with the aim to wrap up the contest to retain the Ashes urn. However, Sunak believes that the eventual result will go the other way.

“But the game did provide an opportunity to see Ben Stokes at his best and it was an incredible test match. He has confidence that England will bounce back at Headingley (in the Third Test),” the spokesman said.