Australia captain Pat Cummins asked the England side to move on from the Jonny Bairstow dismissal and instead focus on themselves and not the spirit of cricket ahead of the third Ashes 2023 Test to be played at Headingley in Leeds from July 6 onwards.
The dismissal on the final day of the second Test, which Australia ultimately won by 43 runs despite an outstanding 155 from Ben Stokes, infuriated the home team.
England accused Australian players of being against the ‘spirit of the game’ after Bairstow had left the crease immediately ducking under a Cameron Green bouncer. This is when Carey threw the ball at the stumps and appealed for the wicket of Bairstow. The decision was sent upstairs and the third umpire ruled it out.
Australian players were booed in the field by the crowd and even in the long room of the Lord’s. Since then, the reaction has reached a fever pitch on both sides of the world, with the Prime Ministers of each country getting involved.
“For what I think is a pretty common non-event, it does seem like everyone has a pretty strong opinion about it. I don’t think there’s any discussion; it’s out. If the shoe was on the other foot, I wouldn’t be looking at the opposition, I’d probably be thinking [about] our batter, and would be thinking it’s pretty silly,” Cummins was quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
England will have to become just the second side ever to come from 0-2 down if they are to regain the Ashes.
“I Know What Our Team Does, And That’s We Concentrate On Ourselves”- Pat Cummins
When asked if the England team’s response to the Bairstow dismissal was an attempt to distract from their losses in the series, Cummins refrained from answering directly but stated how impressed he was with how his players handled the situation.
“I know what our team does, and that’s we concentrate on ourselves. When we haven’t been playing up to scratch, we look pretty deeply at what we are doing and try to make amends. We don’t apportion blame to conditions or opposition or anything else going on. I’m proud of how our boys have conducted themselves [on] this tour, especially on that day five. I thought the way they maintained respect for the opposition, the umpires [and] the crowd, their dignity was first-class,” the Aussie captain said.
The third Test between the two sides will be played at Headingley from July 6 onwards.