Australia’s wicket-keeper Alex Carey stumped out English batter Jonny Bairstow on Day 5 of the Lord’s Test, which Australia, in the end, won by 43 runs to go 2-0 up in the five-match series. This sparked uproar not only among cricket fans and cricket pundits worldwide, and it even prompted the prime ministers of the UK and Australia to join the debate surrounding the controversial run out.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in an official statement through a spokesperson, expressed his support for the England Captain Ben Stokes and accused Australia of breaking the spirit of cricket over the controversial dismissal of England’s Jonny Bairstow on Sunday.
“The prime minister agrees with (England captain) Ben Stokes who said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner that Australia did,” the spokesman said.
The UK PM’s remark did not go down well with Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who also chimed in by taking an indirect dig at the English fans and media for calling the Aussies “cheat”.
Anthony Albanese tweeted, “I’m proud of our men’s and women’s cricket teams, who have both won their opening two #Ashes matches against England. Same old Aussies – always winning! Australia is right behind Alyssa Healy and Pat Cummins and their teams and look forward to welcoming them home victorious.”
Notably, in the 52nd over of the in the second Ashes Test, Bairstow, who was on 10 runs, faced a bouncer from Cameron Green. The England batsman was stumped after he walked away from his position in the apparent belief that the ball was dead and that the over had ended. As Bairstow left the crease, Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey saw it as a chance to dismiss the batter and he threw the ball at the stumps. The decision went to the third unpire who declared Bairstow out.
Australia captain Pat Cummins said it was a fair dismissal within the rules.
But his England counterpart Ben Stokes said although he agreed Bairstow was out, he would not have wanted to win a game “in that manner”.
The incident led to turmoil and chaos at the Lords with 32,000 Lords fans continuing to jeer Australia throughout the rest of the day. In and unprecedented scene, when the players walked through the Long Room, Australian opener Usman Khawaja was seen stopping and confronting a MCC member. He was pulled back by security guards. David Warner could also been seen making a comment to some of the members.
Then, as the happy Australians made their way back to their dressing room, MCC members lined the iconic steps of the Lords and booed Australia with chants of “cheat, cheat, cheat” and “same old Aussies, always cheating”.
Subsequently, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns Lord’s, suspended three members over confrontations with Australia players and issued an apology. “The Long Room is unique in world cricket and the great privilege of players passing through the Pavilion is very special. After this morning’s play, emotions were running high, and words were unfortunately exchanged with some of the Australian team, by a small number of members,” the MCC said in a statement.
“We have unreservedly apologised to the Australian Team and will deal with any Member who has not maintained the standard we expect through our disciplinary processes. It was not necessary to eject anyone from the ground and I am pleased to say that there was no repeat of this as the players resumed the field for this afternoon’s session,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the third Ashes test will commence on July 6, and if Australia can secure a draw in any remaining match, they will retain the trophy.
