'The Rule Is There...': Pat Cummins Gives His Verdict On Jonny Bairstow Stumping Controversy

Ashes 2023: Bairstow's dismissal by Australia has been criticised by many pundits and experts for being against the "spirit of the game".

Pat Cummins of Australia and Alex Carey of Australia celebrates the wicket of Jonny Bairstow of England during Day Five of the LV= Insurance Ashes 2nd Test match between England and Australia at Lord's Cricket Ground on July 02, 2023 in London, England.

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Jonny Bairstow "stumping" has got the cricket world divided. While some are fine with it as the dismissal is well within the laws of the game, there are others who reckon that the dismissal was against the "spirit of the game". The incident in questioned happened during the 52nd over of the final day of the second Test match of the ongoing Ashes series at the iconic Lord's Stadium in London. England's wicketkeeper-batter casually went out of his crease to have a chat with his non-striking partner after he left a bouncer from Australia's Cameron Green.

However, despite the batter not attempting to take a run, the Australian keeper Alex Carey used his presence of mind and threw the ball to break the stumps as the ball was still in play and Bairstow should have ideally been inside his crease. As a result, the batter was adjudged 'out'. Ever since the dismissal, many pundits have lashed out at the Australian side for their gesture. However, their skipper Pat Cummins reckons that there was nothing wrong in what Carey did.

"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 said during the post-match presentation.

"Another wonderful game, right down to the wire. Few heart-stopping moments, the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Been a good day. A world class player like him, you start thinking the boundaries are too small. There wasn't much in the surface as well. We tried to stay patient, have the field out and stuck with it. Happy to go 2-0 up," he added.

Australia have taken a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series. While they won the first match by 2 wickets, in the second Test match they came out on top by 43 runs.