Geoffrey Boycott calls on Australia to make public apology over Ashes drama

In the scorebook it will forever read: Bairstow 10, b Green, stumped Carey

But that barely tells half the story. In the most controversial moment of this Ashes series, England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow was stumped by Australian counterpart Alex Carey.

So what happened?

Bairstow was 10 not out during England’s chase of 371 on the final day of the second Ashes Test when he ducked under a Cameron Green bouncer.

On autopilot, he marked his guard and began to walk down the pitch to greet his batting partner Ben Stokes between overs.

But while Bairstow presumed the ball was dead – taking all forms of dismissal out of the equation – Carey immediately threw the ball back at the stumps.

Bairstow was well out of his crease by the time the ball hit the stumps and the bails were dislodged and Australia began to celebrate in front of a bemused Bairstow.

Bairstow and Stokes briefly spoke to the Australian team and the umpires and as Cummins decided not to withdraw the appeal, the dismissal stood.

Boos rang out around Lord’s and would persist for the rest of the day as Australia won the match by 43 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the Ashes.

What do the laws say?

By the letter of the law, Bairstow had to go. The MCC’s Laws of Cricket state:

20.1.2: The ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batters at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.

So while Bairstow clearly believed the ball to be dead, Australia – and crucially Carey – did not.

Of course want the laws do not consider is the fairly nebulous concept of ‘Spirit of Cricket’. Some have suggested that as Bairstow was not trying to gain an unfair advantage, Australia should have withdrawn the appeal, or at least warned him before the dismissal.

What did the captains say?

England’s Ben Stokes: ‘Taking the whole situation into consideration, the first thing to say is it is out. The thing I had to consider when I was out there was the fact it was the last ball of the over.

‘I very shortly questioned the umpires whether they had called over; both were making the gesture towards walking to their opposite positions.

‘Jonny left his crease to come out and have the conversation in between overs like every batter does and I think if I was fielding captain at the time, I would have put a lot more pressure on the umpires to ask them around what their decision was around the over.

‘Then I would have had to have a real think around the spirit of the game and would I want to potentially win a game with something like that happening – and it would be no.’

Australia’s Pat Cummins: ‘Alex [Carey] saw it happen a few balls previously [Bairstow leave his crease]. There was no pause, he caught it and straight away had a throw at the stumps.

‘I thought it was totally fair play. That’s how the rule is. I know some people might disagree.’