England captain Ben Stokes insists it’s time “everyone moved on” from Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.
Australia won the match by 43 runs to go 2-0 up in the five-match series despite Stokes’ stunning 155.
But his on-field heroics were overshadowed by the extraordinary fall-out from Bairstow’s unusual exit.
British prime minister Rishi Sunak and Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese have even traded verbal bouncers over the issue, which started when Bairstow was given out stumped by opposing wicketkeeper Alex Carey during what the England batsman thought was a break in play.
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Bairstow’s dismissal sparked a chorus of boos at a normally sedate Lord’s and led to three MCC members being suspended for allegedly abusing visiting players in the pavilion.
Stokes indicated he would have withdrawn the appeal had he been the fielding captain at the time, while England coach Brendon McCullum suggested the incident could galvanise his side as they look to become just the second team in Test history to win a series from 2-0 down.
But Stokes, speaking to reporters on Wednesday at Headingley, where the third Test starts on Thursday, said: “I don’t think we can galvanise as a group any more than we are, to be honest.
“There’s been obviously a lot of noise around the incident last week at Lord’s but, from me as a captain and from the England team, I think the best thing that everyone needs to do is just move on from it.”
There have been attempts to link Bairstow’s dismissal with Australia’s 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
But unrepentant Australia captain Pat Cummins, asked if he was concerned his integrity had been questioned following the Lord’s incident, replied: “It doesn’t really bother me. I think the way our team have conducted themselves over the last couple of years has been flawless.
“There’s issues that come up every Ashes series where you have the same opinions – English fans think one thing, Australian fans think the opposite.”
The fast bowler added: “I 100% think the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ is a real thing. At times there’s nuance to it, and everyone might see it a little bit differently. Which is fine, that’s part of it.
“But absolutely I think it’s one of the beauties of our sport. I think our players were outstanding in that regard. We’ve all moved on. The team did nothing wrong so we’re all comfortable.”
Cummins briefly replied “yep” when asked if he would act the same way if a similar situation unfolded after McCullum suggested Australia would eventually regret their actions.
McCullum’s words were put to Cummins, who responded by saying: “You’ll have to ask me in the future. At the moment I’m really comfortable with it. Maybe down the track.”
There have been reports that Australia star batsman Steve Smith’s mother, who is English, left Lord’s early amid the hostile atmosphere, and Yorkshire have taken additional security measures at Headingley due to escalating fears over the safety of the touring party.
“We’re in our partner period here so we’ve got loads of family and kids around,” said Cummins. “I think there might be an extra eye on them, where they are in the crowd, just to make sure everything’s fine.”
Reaction to the incident in England and Australia has split largely on patriotic lines. But former England captain Mike Atherton said rather than Test world champions Australia abusing the ‘spirit of cricket’, Bairstow had been guilty of “dozy cricket”.
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© Agence France-Presse
