Ben Stokes questions Australia’s ‘spirit of the game’ after Bairstow controversy
A fresh chapter was written in an Ashes history already rippled with controversy and rancour as Australia won the second Test at Lord’s and took a 2-0 lead in the series, but the perception that they had trampled over the treasured spirit of the game to get there led to fury in the crowd and, more remarkably, among the usually mild-mannered MCC members.
England fell 44 runs short of their target of 371 despite an innings for the ages from Ben Stokes, who scored nine sixes on his way to 155. But what Stokes considered “the match-winning moment” came when he was not even halfway to that total, with the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow.
The Yorkshireman, the last recognised batter in England’s lineup, had scored 10 when he let a Cameron Green bouncer go through to the keeper and, considering the over complete, left his crease to convene with Stokes. But Alex Carey, the Australia wicketkeeper, predicted his movement, threw the ball at the stumps and thus completed what was recorded as a stumping.
“The first thing that needs to be said is that it is out,” Stokes said. “I had to consider the fact it was the last ball of the over, and I questioned the umpires as to whether they had called over. Both umpires were walking towards their opposite position. Jonny left his crease to come out and have the conversation between overs like every batsman does.
“If I was fielding captain I would have had a real think about the spirit of the game. For Australia it was the match-winning moment. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no.”
Australia countered that Bairstow himself had attempted to dismiss David Warner in similar fashion on the first day of the match and had tried it four years ago to Steve Smith.
“I thought it was fair,” the captain, Pat Cummins, said. “It’s a really common thing for keepers to do. Jonny left his crease. You leave the rest to the umpires.”
Though there was no doubting Bairstow was out under the laws of the game, there was widespread feeling at Lord’s that it was not in the spirit. A raucous crowd made their opinion clear for the remainder of the day, to the extent that Cummins’s postmatch interview several hours later was drowned out by jeers, but the most remarkable scenes took place at lunch, five overs after Bairstow’s dismissal.
Australia’s players were booed from the field and reaching the pavilion, an area reserved for MCC members and their guests, brought no respite. As the team walked through the historic Long Room towards their dressing room, security was required to hold members back from physically confronting them, and Usman Khawaja and Warner had to be pulled away from the scene after pausing to engage in heated, finger-pointing debate.
“If anyone asks me where the best place is to play I always say Lord’s,” Khawaja said later. “The crowd is great, particularly the members are great, [but] some of the stuff that was coming out of the members’ mouths is really disappointing and I wasn’t just going stand by and cop it. A few of them were throwing out some pretty big allegations and I just called them up on it. It’s pretty disrespectful, to be honest.”
Cricket Australia has demanded an investigation into the incident, saying in a statement: “Players and staff were verbally abused, with some being physically contacted, as they made their way to lunch through the members’ area.”
An MCC spokesperson said it had “unreservedly apologised to the Australian team and will deal with any member who has not maintained the standard we expect”, with Cummins suggesting that “some of them might lose their membership over the way they behaved”.
The MCC said on Sunday evening that it had suspended three of its members following “unacceptable” behaviour adding in a statement: “They will not be permitted back to Lord’s whilst the investigation takes place and were informed of this by MCC chief executive, Guy Lavender, this evening.
“We maintain that the behaviour of a small number of members was completely unacceptable and, whilst there was no suggestion by Pat Cummins in the post-match press conference that there was any physical altercation, it remains wholly unacceptable to behave in such a way, which goes against the values of the club.
“MCC condemns the behaviour witnessed and once again we reiterate our apology to Cricket Australia. We are thoroughly disappointed to be talking about poor behaviour when the Long Room, as stated by Pat Cummins him
self, is otherwise renowned for being ‘really welcoming’. It has been a thrilling day to finish off a wonderful five days of Test cricket.”
Although Australia’s victory leaves them on the verge of winning the Ashes with three games to play – one more win would do it, and a draw would guarantee they retain the trophy – the incident means the atmosphere will be more heated than ever when the action moves to Headingley on Thursday.
“I definitely think it’s going to be ramped up,” Stokes said. “It’s actually very exciting to know that the way in which we are playing our cricket couldn’t be more perfect for the situation we find ourselves in.
“We have to win these three games to get this urn back. We’re a team who are willing to put ourselves out there and do things against the narrative. Now, these three games are a better opportunity for us than we’ve ever found ourselves in before.”