Lord's Test in the ongoing Ashes series turned out to be hugely controversial even as Australia won by 43 runs on the final day to take a 2-0 lead. More than Australia's victory, Jonny Bairstow's dismissal turned out to be the talking point of the match. Australia were booed right through the day after Bairstow was adjudged out. For the unversed, the England wicketkeeper was adjudged stumped by Alex Carey off pace bowler Cameron Green.
After ducking underneath a short ball from an outside the off-stump delivery, Bairstow left his crease instantly with Carey, the Aussie wicketkeeper, spotting his movement and throwing the ball at stumps. The ball was still in play and according to the laws of the game, Bairstow was declared out by the third umpire. Ever since then, a lot of digs are being taken at each other from both sides.
Meanwhile, Victoria Police has hilariously jumped into the debate using Bairstow's picture of stepping out of the crease and relating it with traffic signals. "We'd like to thank Jonny Bairstow for reminding everyone about the dangers of stepping over the crease before you're given the green light," the tweet read.
As far as the two captains in the game are concerned, both Pat Cummins and Ben Stokes had contrasting views on the form of dismissal. As expected, 'spirit of the game' discussion came up and the England skipper cleared that the Bairstow dismissal moment turned the game and that he wouldn't want to win the game that way. On the other hand, Cummins defended Carey's actions and backed his teammate to the fullest.
"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," Stokes said.
"There was no pause. Catch it, straight away, have a throw at the stumps. I thought it was totally fair play. That's how the rule is," Cummins said defending Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
