Lord’s members scrap with ‘cheating’ Aussies after dodgy Bairstow run-out as Piers Morgan slams ‘pathetic’ Ashes stars
ENGLAND cricket fans raged after Jonny Bairstow was controversially stumped by Australian wicket keeper Alex Carey during the final day of the Second Ashes Test.
Australia sealed a dramatic 43-run victory over Ben Stokes’ side to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
And while Stokes’ breathtaking 155 was one of the major headlines from the game, it was also marred by controversy following Bairstow‘s bizarre dismissal.
England’s wicket-keeper, 33, ducked under a bouncer as the ball made its way through to Aussie keeper Carey at Lord’s.
The England batsman marked his crease and then wandered down the wicket, before Carey threw the ball at the stumps.
Bairstow was not given out on the field, but after the run out was checked he was sent packing as England were reduced to 193-6 in pursuit of 371.
The Lord’s crowd were furious with the questionable way Australia managed to get Bairstow out as they labelled Pat Cummins’ side cheats.
There were also loud chants of “Same old Aussies, always cheating”.
A furious Piers Morgan tweeted: “You cannot be serious??!! Australia, that is pathetic.
“How can you possibly want to win an Ashes Test match like that?”
And Australia were booed as they made their way off the field for lunch.
They even received a hostile reception from the posh members in the Long Room as the Aussies were roundly jeered.
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And Usman Khawaja engaged in a heated exchange with one individual.
David Warner also seemed to get involved in the exchange, before officials separated the two sides.
The MCC apologised for the incident, releasing a statement which read: “The Long Room is unique in world cricket and the great privilege of players passing through the pavilion is very special.
“After this morning’s play, emotions were running high, and words were unfortunately exchanged with some of the Australian team, by a small number of members.
“We have unreservedly apologised to the Australian team and will deal with any member who has not maintained the standard we expect through our disciplinary processes.
“It was not necessary to eject anyone from the ground and I am pleased to say that there was no repeat of this as the players resumed the field for this afternoon’s session.”
But Cricket Australia have since come out and demanded a probe into the altercation.
A statement of their own said: “It is alleged players and staff from the Australian team were verbally abused, with some being physically contacted, as they made their way to lunch through the members area.”
Morgan added: “Wow.. Aussies getting into angry confrontations with booing MCC members as they return to the pavilion.
“Never seen that.. but then I’ve [never] seen an Australia side show so little regard for ‘spirit of the game’ in an Ashes Test..”
Legendary England batsman Alastair Cook said: “The spirit of cricket – it’s similar to the Mankad, there’s not much skill in what Carey did.
“If it was bothering Australia then they should have told Bairstow he was leaving his crease too early.
“Bairstow was dopey, it was foolish. He assumed that tap was enough… I’ve now lost my train of thought.”
And former England captain Nasser Hussain said: “In all these years, I’ve never seen anything like that in the Long Room.”
Cricket fans also piled in, with one joking: “You know it’s bad when the long room turns into Millwall away.”
While Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher added: “Brilliant from Stokes and Broad, and the fella in the Long Room!
“Joke that the commentary team are justifying the dismissal of Bairstow, he’s not trying to gain an advantage.”
But others slammed Bairstow for his naive walk down the wicket.
One said: “That is just the best thing I’ve ever seen. What on earth was Bairstow thinking?!”
While another added: “Idiotic from Bairstow, but so unsportsmanlike from the Aussies. Poor all round.”
Bairstow was replaced at the crease by Stuart Broad – who has never been forgiven by Australia for refusing to walk when he edged behind at Trent Bridge in 2013.
But on this occasion the England bowler was the aggressor as he took aim at Carey for his actions.
Making his way to the middle, he told Carey: “That’s all you’ll ever be remembered for!”
When Cummins then dropped Ben Stokes, Broad could not help himself to another jibe.
He told the Australia captain: “Do you think that’s out?”
And Stokes took his understandable anger out on the Aussie bowling attack as he smashed three successive sixes on his way to a remarkable century before lunch.
The session ended with Stokes and Broad needing 128 to lead England to victory.
And the pair reduced the run chase to 70 before Stokes was dismissed for a sensational 155.
Ollie Robinson and Broad walked shortly after England’s captain, before Josh Tongue and Jimmy Anderson put on a 25-run stand for the final wicket.
But Tongue was eventually bowled by Mitchell Starc as the Aussies took a giant step towards retaining the Ashes.
Speaking about the Bairstow incident after the match, Stokes said: “There’s lots of factors. I would ask the umpires whether they had called over.
“They made a move towards the end of the over. But at the end of the day it is out.
“If the shoe was on the other foot I would have had a think about the whole spirit of the game. But is has happened. It was out. We have to move on.”
Meanwhile, Cummins said: “I think Carey saw it happen a few balls previous, there was no pause. Catch it and throw at the stumps.
“I thought it was totally fair play. I know some people disagree but it’s like the catch yesterday. That’s how I saw it.”