England journalist and broadcaster Piers Morgan has dragged the late Shane Warne in the Ashes 2023 controversy. Notably, this is the first Test series between Australia and England that is being played without the involvement of the leg-spinner in any way whatsoever since the legendary leg-spinner's debut. Warne had been a part of the series either as a player or an expert in every Ashes since he earned his Test cap for Australia. However, he tragically passed away due to a massive cardiac arrest in March last year.
And now amid the Jonny Bairstow dismissal controversy, English journalist Morgan has brought up Warne's name into the discussion. Notably, Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow who casually walked out of his crease to have a word with the non-striker assuming that the ball was not in play. However, Carey had observed Bairstow leaving the crease early a few times which is why he broke the stumps with his throw and Bairstow had to walk back to the pavilion.
While Australia captain Pat Cummins along with several others reckon it was fair play, on the other side of the spectrum is England captain Ben Stokes who believes that the dismissal was against the spirit of the game. Amid all this, Morgan believes that if Warne was alive he would have not been pleased with the way Australia claimed the wicket of Bairstow. The Aussies went on to clinch the match by 43-runs at the Lord's cricket ground in London and extend their lead to 2-0 in the five-match series.
"My late, great Aussie friend Shane Warne, who played his cricket hard but fair, had a phrase for this kind of sharp practice," Morgan wrote in his column for The Sun as quoted by Sky News.
"He’d have called it "pretty ordinary,"" he added.
And for Warnie, there was nothing worse in the world than for sportsmen to show ‘pretty ordinary’ bad sportsmanship," Morgan concluded.