England captain Ben Stokes isn’t thrilled with how the 2nd Test of Ashes 2023 concluded as Australia took a 2-0 lead with three games remaining. Chasing 371, England were bowled out for 327 after Stokes revived hopes with a magical century that gave Australia a mighty scare.
Ideally, the discussions should have centered around the result and Stokes’ valiant innings but thanks to a controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow in the morning session, the headlines have been dominated with debates on whether Australians acted against the ‘spirit of the game’ by not withdrawing the appeal.
Stokes though accepted that the umpire’s call is final but added he would have withdrawn the appeal if it was him in place of Australia captain Pat Cummins.
Alex Carey spotted Jonny Bairstow wandered out of his crease assuming the ball was dead after he ducked underneath a short delivery. Carey landed a direct hit and appealed for stumping which was upheld.
“When is it justified that the umpires have called over?” Stokes said on BBC’s Test Match Special. “Is the on-field umpires making movement, is that signifying over? I’m not sure. Jonny was in his crease then out of his crease. I am not disputing the fact it is out because it is out.”
Stokes said he would have never wanted to win a game in that manner.
“If the shoe was on the other foot I would have put more pressure on the umpires and asked whether they had called over and had a deep think about the whole spirit of the game and would I want to do something like that. For Australia it was the match-winning moment. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no,” he said.
Australia went on to win the match by 43 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. The third Test starts from July 6 at Leeds.
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