It seems the caretakers of 'Spirit of Cricket' are at it again after the controversial dismissal of England wicketkeeper batter Jonny Bairstow on the final day of the Lord's Test in the ongoing Ashes series. Bairstow wandered out of his crease thinking that it was the end of the over but the ball wasn't dead just yet and Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey was alert enough to catch the batsman short of his crease.
Was it in the laws? Yes. Was Carey at fault? No. Should Australia have withdrawn the appeal? They could have but even if they didn't, they didn't do anything that wasn't in the laws but still the 'Spirit of Cricket' has somehow been impacted which Ben Stokes and English media have amped up since the dismissal. Australians have been called cheats and were booed wherever they went at Lord's from the ground to the long room to the dressing room.
Now UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has jumped on the bandwagon agreeing with England skipper. UK Prime Minister's official spokesperson said, "The PM agrees with Ben Stokes – he said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did."
However, Sunak did heap praise on Stokes for his 155-run knock as despite the dismissal he kept on fighting the battle even if he was alone. “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 (venue for the third Test)," the spokesperson further added.
Sunak condemned Australia's actions saying that they were against the spirit of the game. However, the Australian skipper and all the players have stuck with Carey saying that it was absolutely fair and was within his rights to effect such dismissal. Cummins and co have received support from their Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who with a tweet offered his support to both men's and women's Ashes sides.
"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 @ahealy77, @patcummins30 and their teams and look forward to welcoming them home victorious," albanese wrote on Twitter.
England lost the game by 43 runs and are now 0-2 behind. England will need to win all the remaining three matches to take the urn back from Australia.
