Ashes 2023: The rule is there – Pat Cummins on Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal

Australian skipper Pat Cummins shed light on Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal in the second innings of the second Ashes Test, which the visitors won by 43 runs on Sunday. While facing Cameron Green, Bairstow walked out of his crease on a couple of occasions, and Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey took notice.

After the final ball of the 52nd over, Bairstow didn’t wait for the umpire’s call of an ‘over’ and Carey was quick to throw the ball at the stumps. Bairstow, who was strolling to his skipper Ben Stokes, for a chat between the over, was flabbergasted when Australia appealed to the umpires about the possible stumping.

Bairstow had left the crease before the ball became ‘DEAD’ and as per the rules, he was out.

Speaking on the dismissal, Pat Cummins said, “I think Carey saw it a few balls previous, there was no pause, he catches it and throws it straight at the stumps. I thought it was totally fair play. That’s the rule, some people might disagree but just like the catch yesterday, the rule is there and that is the way I saw it.”

After Bairstow’s dismissal, there was a lot of captivating action on the final day. The English crowd started booing the Australian players and Stuart Broad also had a lot to say to Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins. As the Lunch was called, Usman Khawaja and David Warner were involved in a heated exchange of words with Lord’s members in Long Room.

Meanwhile, Cummins was delighted to get over the line but he gave credit to Ben Stokes, who scored a piece de resistance knock of 155 runs.

The Australian skipper added, “I think Carey saw it a few balls previous, there was no pause, he catches it and throws it straight at the stumps. I thought it was totally fair play. That’s the rule, some people might disagree but just like the catch yesterday, the rule is there and that is the way I saw it.”

Cummins also showered praise on Nathan Lyon, who showed all the gumption as the off-spinner walked out to bat on the penultimate day despite suffering a calf injury. Lyon added 15 runs with Mitchell Starc and scored four runs.

Cummins concluded, “These were perfect conditions for him on day 5, to win without him was a great win. I wasn’t too happy to see him walk out to bat but he was keen to get out there. He did amazing and those 15-20 runs were crucial. The way the batters played under lights on the first day was also amazing. (On whether Nathan Lyon is ruled out) I think so, but we have Todd Murphy who did an amazing job in India so he will be sticking around for us.”

The third Ashes Test will be played at Leeds, Headingley from Thursday onwards.