While UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak does not think he would “want to win a game that way”, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thinks winning is just what the Australian team does. The match and matter in question is the England vs Australia 2nd Ashes Test Day 5 and the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow.
For the uninitiated or the ones who missed the match, on Day 5 of the match, Bairstow was given out after Alex Carey threw down the stumps at the striker’s end. Bairstow left the crease after ducking to a bouncer from Cameron Green. Carey saw it as his chance to dismiss the batter and took off the stumps successfully. Bairstow was eventually declared out by the third umpire.
England captain Ben Stokes was not pleased at the dismissal. He later said that he would not think of dismissing a batter in such a manner. “Would I want to win a game in that way? The answer for me is no. We just have to move on," Stokes said.
UK PM Sunak also reiterated Stokes’ – as well as many others’ – sentiments. A spokesperson of the PM said: "The prime minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn't want to win a game in the manner Australia did.”
He was, however, impressed by Stokes’ performance. Sunak called the Test match “incredible” and was confident that England would bounce back in the third Test at Headingley.
Also turns out, Australia is unfazed by the criticism. To begin with, Australia PM Albanese said that he is proud of the team that has a knack for winning. “I’m proud of our men’s and women’s cricket teams, who have both won their opening two #Ashes matches against England. Same old Aussies – always winning! Australia is right behind @ahealy77, @patcummins30 and their teams and look forward to welcoming them home victorious,” he said.
Albanese’ tweet was a play on what the disappointed and displeased English cricket fans sang – ‘same old Aussies, always cheating!’ – on the final day of the second Test.
Australian captain Pat Cummins was of the opinion that there was nothing wrong with the dismissal. He also pointed towards similar actions by Bairstow. "You see Jonny do it all the time, he did it day one to (David) Warner, he did it in 2019 to Steve (Smith), it's a really common thing for keepers to do," Cummins said.
England is trailing the five-match series against Australia with 0-2. Australia could easily sweep the series and the pressure would be on the home side to clinch a victory.
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