A major controversy erupted on the tense Day 5 of England vs Australia Ashes 2023 2nd Test at Lord's after Australian gloveman Alex Carey found a clever way to get rid of England star Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow ducked a short-pitched slow bouncer from Cameron Green and immediately left the crease to walk to the middle of the pitch to have a chat with Ben Stokes. Aussie wicket-keeper Carey found this opportunity to quickly throw the ball towards the stumps for a run-out.
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According to Law 20, a ball is considered dead when it is “finally settled”, which is “is a matter for the umpire alone to decide”. After looking at the replays, TV umpire Marais Erasmus adjudged Bairstow out. Unhappy with the decision, English fans at Lord's started chanting: "Shame old Aussies, always cheating."
Most of the fans aren't debating about the legality of the delivery but are unhappy because of the mythical concept of 'spirit of cricket'.
Meanwhile, a miffed English journalist targeted Aussie skipper Pat Cummins in the post-match presser by asking him whether his team would adapt acts like 'Mankad' and 'underarm bowling' going ahead in the series.
To everyone's surprise, Pat Cummins came up with a hilarious response, causing a laughter riot in the press room.
"Depends how flat the wickets get. Might be an option to turn to," Cummins replied.
Ben Stokes' (155 runs off 214 balls) batting heroics went in vain as Australia defeated England by 43 runs in Ashes 2023 2nd Test at Lord's to take 2-0 lead in five-match ENG vs AUS Ashes 2023 Test series. Australian have asserted their dominance on the English turf with back-to-back wins.