The Australian cricket team may have taken a comfortable lead of 2-0 in the Ashes series against England after winning the second test which was played at the Lord’s but the win in the second test match has come in a controversial manner and it has also affected the sporting relations of both the countries to some extent as well.
The dismissal of English batter Jonny Bairstow also started the “spirit of cricket” debate as the English fans feel that his dismissal is within the laws of the game but it is against the spirit of cricket.
If you are not aware of the incident, then let us tell you that Cameron Green bowled a short delivery which was ducked by Jonny Bairstow, the ball went to the wicketkeeper Alex Carey, Bairstow started walking towards his batting partner and Alex Carey didn’t miss the chance of hitting the stumps with the ball.
Here is the video of the whole incident:
Excellent work by Alex Carey to run out Jonny Bairstow.
Terrific presence of mind there! pic.twitter.com/0hrfGstX65
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 2, 2023
Click to watch this video directly on Twitter
Now another video is going viral in which Pat Cummins and Jonny Bairstow are shaking hands after the match, Jonny Bairstow seems to be in a very angry mood as he shakes hand with the Aussie skipper. The video was posted by Sky Sports Cricket on their official Twitter handle with the caption, “The look from Bairstow when he was shaking hands with Cummins” and the commentator was also heard saying, “Here is that handshake, take a look…if only looks could kill.”
Here is the video:
The look from Bairstow when he was shaking hands with Cummins 😳 pic.twitter.com/RU7ReVKoms
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 3, 2023
Click to watch this video directly on Twitter
This handshake certainly reminded Indian fans of the handshake between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir after the IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants.
Though the English cricketers and supporters slammed the Aussies for dismissing Jonny Bairstow in this manner, Pat Cummins maintained that there was nothing in this dismissal and he said that Alex Carey saw Bairstow walking down the crease for 3-4 balls continuously and there was no pause as he immediately threw the ball on the stumps after catching it. He goes on to say that it is completely fairplay as it is as per the rule, adding that some may not agree with him but this is how he sees it.
Pat Cummins further states that Jonny Bairstow also does the same thing when he is wicketkeeping as he did it on the day one to Warner and he did the same thing to Steve Smith in 2019. Pat Cummins was full of praise for Alex Carey who saw the opportunity and got this important wicket for his team.
However, an online user also shared a video in which he claims that Jonny Bairstow did the same thing for getting Marnus Labuschagne out. He captioned the video as, “Thought we had seen this before. Jonny Bairstow attempting to catch Marnus Labuschagne stepping out of his crease two days ago.”
Here is the video:
Thought we had seen this before. Jonny Bairstow attempting to catch Marnus Labuschagne stepping out of his crease two days ago. #Ashes @wwos @9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/U28fEvlEu8
— Sam Djodan (@samdjodan) July 2, 2023
Click to watch this video directly on Twitter
Aussies won the match by 43 runs as the whole English team got bundled out for 327 runs while chasing the target of 371 runs in their second innings.
As far as the Indian cricket community is concerned, a big majority feels that what Alex Carey has done is correct. What do you think?