Rishi Sunak weighed in on the Ashes cricket row that has blown up since Australia’s controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow in the second Test by claiming their actions were “not in the spirit” of the game.
A thrilling final day’s play at Lord’s on Sunday left fans and players furious when England’s Bairstow was stumped by Alex Carey, the Australia wicketkeeper, while wandering out of his crease believing that the over was complete and the ball was therefore dead.
Australia had an opportunity to withdraw their appeal in accordance with the ‘spirit of cricket’ but chose not to do so, and Bairstow was therefore given out by the third umpire in accordance with the letter of the law.
Ben Stokes, the England captain whose innings of 155 could not save his team from a 43-run defeat, described the stumping as “the match-winning moment” and said he would have withdrawn the appeal.
“I would have had to have a real think around the spirit of the game. Would I want to potentially win a game with something like that happening? It would be no,” Stokes said after the game.
Mr Sunak’s verdict was backed up by cricket great Sir Geoffrey Boycott, who said in his column for Telegraph Sport that “Australia need to have a think about what they did and make a full public apology”, as well as current England head coach Brendon McCullum.
“I imagine it will affect [the spirit of series], I think it has to,” McCullum said last night as he accused Australia of destroying the relationship between the two sides with their show of gamesmanship.
“In the end, they made a play, they’ve got to live with that, we would have made a different play but that’s life.”
Asked about the controversy on Monday, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did.
“The game did provide an opportunity to see Ben Stokes at his best, and it was an incredible Test match, and he has confidence England will bounce back at Headingley.”
Asked whether Mr Sunak, a keen cricket fan, agreed that the Australian team’s actions around the Bairstow stumping were “not in the spirit of cricket”, the spokesman replied: “Yep.”
But he added that it was unlikely he would raise the matter with Anthony Albanese, his Australian counterpart, and insisted that despite a “friendly rivalry” the British public “would want the Prime Minister to focus on the core issues of the UK-Australia relationship”.
Downing Street also weighed in on a separate incident in the Long Room, after which three members of the Marylebone Cricket Club were suspended over accusations of verbal abuse and physical contact with Australia’s players.
The confrontation occurred as the teams left the field following Bairstow’s dismissal.
Mr Sunak’s spokesman added: “He thinks it is right that MCC has taken swift action to suspend any member accused of poor behaviour.
“I think he was there when Nathan Lyon hobbled out to bat on Saturday, obviously he was in considerable pain, and he was given a standing ovation by members there, and I think he felt that’s much more in keeping with the spirit of cricket.”
MCC went on to apologise “unreservedly” to the Australian team in the wake of the suspensions after some players, including Usman Khawaja and David Warner, were filmed stopping to remonstrate with supporters.
On Sunday lunchtime, Guy Lavender, the chief executive of MCC and a former lieutenant colonel in the Parachute Regiment, took the rare step of addressing members to remind them to respect the players in a febrile atmosphere at Lord’s.
Mr Sunak was in attendance for the penultimate day of the second Ashes Test on Saturday, when he was interviewed on the BBC’s Test Match Special (TMS).
After the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) found racism, sexism and classism are “widespread” in the game, the Prime Minister told the programme: “I haven’t experienced that in cricket, but of course I’ve experienced racism growing up.
“It stings you in a way that very few other things do. I’m in a job where I take criticism on a daily, hourly, minute-by-minute basis. But racism, it stings you, it does hurt.”
On Tuesday Mr Albanese, Australian Prime Minister and sports fan, said he was “proud” of Australia’s “men’s and women’s cricket teams, who have both won their opening two Ashes matches against England”.
He tweeted: “Same old Aussies, always winning!’’ and added ‘‘(I) look forward to welcoming them home victorious”.
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