Sydney
Australia’s Test skipper Pat Cummins believes that the after-effect of the stumping of England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow effected by Alex Carey during the Lord’s Test in the 2023 Ashes series made him like the fact that a lot of people got involved with the sport.
On day five’s play in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, Bairstow was on 10 in the 52nd over when he ducked under a bouncer from Cameron Green and inadvertently walked out of his crease. Carey immediately directed an underarm throw after catching the delivery, and jumped in joy after firing his throw at the stumps. On-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Chris Gaffaney sent the decision upstairs, where TV umpire Marais Erasmus confirmed Bairstow’s dismissal.
The dismissal drew a furious reaction from the fans, who started to chant same old Aussies, always cheating, and booed the visitors for the rest of the day, with some Australian players also facing verbal abuse from MCC members in long room during lunch interval.
I think the great thing was how many people were speaking about cricket. It was the middle of winter [in Australia] and cricket was the main sport for a couple of months. So personally, I loved how much people were focusing on Test cricket and loving the contest each day. And also the old rivalry between us and them, every Ashes series seems to drop something, said Cummins.
