Pat Cummins hits back as Ben Stokes slams Australia over Jonny Bairstow Ashes stumping at Lord’s

Pat Cummins has hit back after England captain Ben Stokes said he would ‘not want to win that way’ after Australia refused to recall Jonny Bairstow when the wicketkeeper was controversially stumped by Alex Carey at Lord’s on Sunday.

The tourists took a 2-0 lead in the Ashes on a day when the MCC had to apologise after Australia players were abused by members in the Long Room at Lord’s over the incident.

Stokes hit a stunning century and threatened to pull off an astonishing England win in front of a febrile Lord’s crowd but he was dismissed for 155, with England still 70 adrift of their target. The tourists went on to complete a 43-run win.

‘I am not disputing the fact it is out because it is out,’ Stokes said of Bairstow’s dismissal, which occurred when he walked out of his crease after ducking a Cameron Green delivery, prompting Carey to underarm the ball into the stumps.

‘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 whether I would 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 is no,’ Stokes added.

England captain Ben Stokes (left) was unhappy with Australia’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow – but Pat Cummins said it was nothing the home side hasn’t also tried to do

Jonny Bairstow (middle) was controversially stumped by Australia wicket keeper Alex Carey

Cummins, on the other hand, was unapologetic and adamant that Australia had made the right call, when asked whether he considered the spirit of cricket.

‘I thought it was fair. You see Jonny do it all the time. He did it on Day One to (David) Warner. He did it in 2019 to Steve (Smith). It’s a really common thing for keepers to do if they see a batter keep on leaving their crease,’ said the Australia captain.

‘Caz (Carey) – full credit to him. He saw the opportunity a few balls beforehand and rolled at the stumps. Jonny left his crease and we’ll leave the rest to the umpires,’ Cummins added.

‘We’ve all played a lot of cricket. The spirit of cricket is really important.

‘The way we’ve gone about it over the last couple of years has been fantastic. We should be really proud as a group.’

Stokes insisted that Australia didn’t consider the ‘spirit of the game’ by taking the wicket

Unfortunately for the Poms, the normally parochial commentary box was completely and objectively united in the fairness and spirit of the controversial moment, with a slew of ex-England skippers admitting the decision was fair. 

Eoin Morgan, who explained he had played at Lord’s since he was 16 and had never seen scenes in the Long Room like the final day, said he couldn’t understand why his former side felt hard done by.  

‘I don’t see it compromising the spirit of the game,’ he said on the Sky Sports broadcast.

‘There was a huge sense of frustration [in the crowd] but I can’t understand why? It’s complete naivety around Bairstow’s dismissal.

‘The ball is not dead at any stage when Bairstow leaves his crease. He was obviously in his own little bubble – and you cannot do that.

‘It’s actually really smart from Carey, recognising what is going on – Bairstow living in his own little world – and seeing an opportunity to take a wicket.’

Agony and ecstasy: A gleeful Pat Cummins (right) celebrates Bairstow’s wicket 

Ex-England skipper Eoin Morgan said he didn’t believe the Aussies weren’t playing in the spirit of the game, and backed the call

Mike Atherton in full agreeance: ‘England have nothing to complain about, it was a dozy bit of cricket from Jonny Bairstow.’

Dozy began to be a common word when describing the incident, with Andrew Strauss refusing to buy into the one-eyed fans’ assertions.

‘In truth, I think there was absolutely nothing wrong with it but, of course, the crowd will see it through English patriotic eyes,’ he said.

‘Bairstow was being dozy going outside of his crease. I was pretty comfortable with what Australia did.’

Of course there was no doubt which camp Aussie legend Ricky Ponting sat in, with the typically-forthright commentator as blunt as always.

‘The more clarification we got, that it goes down as stumped and not run out in the scorebook, that’s enough said,’ he said on Sky Sports’ broadcast.

‘Jonny did the wrong thing and he has paid with losing his wicket in an Ashes Test, as simple as that.’

Aussie cult hero Merv Hughes chimed in with a similarly blunt suggestion: ‘Learn the rules and there wouldn’t be a problem!’ 

Stuart Broad makes a point of not leaving his crease after Bairstow’s dismissal, eliciting a smile from Marnus Labuschagne (centre)

Ex-Aussie wicketkeeper Darren Berry applauded his fellow gloveman.

‘Brilliant! One bloke with elite awareness, the other lost in space. Before you English start crying, Carey let the ball go before Bairstow had moved, but he anticipated he would. Umpire had not called over – (it was) smart Attention to detail. (It’s) The little things,’ he said.

Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin, who has often prompted even more fierce debates over his penchant for the controversial act of mankadding, also threw his support behind Carey. 

‘The keeper would never have a dip at the stumps from that far out in a test match unless he or his team have noticed a pattern of the batter leaving his crease after leaving a ball like Bairstow did,’ he wrote on social media.

‘We must applaud the game smarts of the individual rather than skewing it towards unfair play or spirit of the game.’ 

Furious fans took sides as the controversy blew up social media, with English supporters disagreeing with their past greats and insisting the Aussie side were all ‘cheats’.

Aussie supporters – and indeed many around the world not only pointed out the legalities that point to the act being well above board, but the double standards of the English outcry.

Top pundit Dan Liebke poked fun at the continual cheat cry ringing around the ground: ‘Carey disgustingly holding onto that skied shot that Stokes didn’t even intend to hit there. Ugly Aussies.’

Another wrote that the infamous Mankad last year, which left English women’s star Charlie Dean in tears and the nation furious after India won as a result, showed the clear case of double standards.  

‘The same group arguing that Charlie Dean shouldn’t have been out at the non-striker’s end now doesn’t want people given out for leaving the crease at the striker’s end either. The ball was never dead. The onus is on Bairstow to stay in, not Carey to not throw at the stumps. Out,’ wrote Peter Della Penna.

With England now needing to win all three remaining Tests to retain the Ashes, Stokes was however adamant that his side still have what it takes to pull off the unthinkable.

‘We won 3-0 against New Zealand (last summer) and we won 3-0 against Pakistan in Pakistan. We’ve won three games in a row twice, so all we’re thinking about is winning the series 3-2.’

England have named a 15-man squad for the third Test at Headingley, which begins on Thursday, with Matthew Potts and Rehan Ahmed omitted and Stokes expects a hostile atmosphere in Leeds after admitting that the atmosphere at Lord’s reminded him of the 2019 World Cup final, when England beat New Zealand.