The second Ashes Test at Lord's ended with a lot of fire both on and off the field as Jonny Bairstow's controversial dismissal fuelled a raging 'Spirit of Cricket' debate after Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey found his counterpart short of crease while wandering towards the other end while the ball was still in play on the final day on Sunday, July 2.
The boos and chants of 'Aussie cheat' became normal for the rest of the game after Bairstow was given out and Australia kept their appeal intact. Australia eventually won the game overcoming a Ben Stokes special as the England skipper smashed a fabulous 155. However, Bairstow's dismissal took the sheen off from his innings and both skippers were asked about it at the post-match presentation as well as in the press conference.
Stokes admitted that it was out but mentioned that had the sides been changed, 'Spirit of Cricket' would have come into consideration for them and if it did, he wouldn't have appealed.
"I am not disputing the fact it is out because it is out. 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 and would I want to do something like that. For Australia it was the match-winning moment. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no. We just have to move on," he said at the presentation ceremony.
"Carey saw it happen previously, it's in the Laws, totally fair play. That's how I saw it," said Australian captain Pat Cummins. Cummins was quick to mention that they observed a pattern and it was fair while elaborating the same at the presser.
"I thought it was fair. You see Jonny do it all the time. He did it on day one to Davey Warner, he did it in 2019 to Steve [Smith]. It's a really common thing for keepers to do. If they see a batter keep leaving their crease so... Kez (Carey), full credit to him, saw the opportunity. I think Jonny did it a few balls beforehand, rolled at the stumps, Jonny left his crease, you leave the rest to the umpires," Cummins further said after being asked about the same at the press conference.
The heat is definitely on and is likely to move into the next Test at Leeds.
