Ben Stokes has questioned whether Alex Carey’s controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow on day five of the Lord’s Ashes Test was within the spirit of the game, saying he would not want to win the match in that manner.
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After Australia took the final wicket of the match to go 2-0 up, Stokes was interviewed on BBC Test Match Special and said: “My thoughts around it is, when is it justified that umpires have called ‘over’? Does the square leg umpire making some movement justify that? Jonny Bairstow was in his crease and then came out to have a chat in the middle. I’m not disputing if it was out, it was.
“If the shoe was on the other foot, I would’ve had a think about the whole spirit of the game. But it has happened, it was out. We have to move on… Do I want to win in that manner? No.”
Carey enacted the dismissal in the morning session when Bairstow was on 10, and England still needed 178 to win. After taking the ball in his gloves from a delivery Bairstow left, Carey threw down the stumps as he started to walk out of his crease for the end of the over. The decision was then referred to the third umpire, who ruled the dismissal was legitimate much to the anger of the home crowd.
The controversy surrounding the dismissal centres on whether the ball was dead and ‘over’ had been called. Australia argue that the wicket was legitimate because the umpires had not called or implied ‘over’. England’s position is that the movement of the square-leg umpire and that Bairstow was not attempting to take a run mean ‘over’ had been called and the ball was therefore dead. Stuart Broad, who came into bat directly after Bairstow was out, said to Alex Carey on the field: “That’s all you’ll ever be remembered for,” while the crowd continued to boo and chant.
Brendon McCullum reiterated England’s position on the dismissal after play, saying to BBC TMS: “I think it was more about the spirit of the game and when you become older and more mature you realise the game and the spirit of it is something you need to protect. You have to make decisions in the moment and they can have effects on games and people’s characters.
“By the letter of the law he is out. Jonny was not trying to take a run and the umpires had called over. It is one of those difficult ones to swallow and you look at the small margins it is incredibly disappointing. But lots of people will have their opinion on both sides of the fence. But the most disappointing thing is that it will be the most talked about event of a great Test match. I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer any time soon.”
After the match, Pat Cummins doubled-down on not withdrawing the appeal. Speaking in the Sky post-match presentations, Australia’s captain said: “I think Carey saw it happen a few balls previous. 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. I know some people might disagree. Just like the catch yesterday, the rule is there. That’s how I saw it.”
