PM’s spokesperson says Sunak did not believe Australia’s actions were within the spirit of cricket…reports Asian Lite News
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has given his support to his country’s “always winning” cricket team following a row over the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s.
The batsman was ruled out by the umpire after leaving his position because he apparently thought the over had ended. Fans at the north London ground saw Bairstow duck under a bouncer from Cameron Green.
He then tapped the crease before taking a few steps beyond it to prod the pitch.
As he did so, Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey sent an under-arm throw – before leaping for joy as he hit the stumps. The umpires quickly ruled the England player was out.
Paraphrasing the chant of the England fans “Same old Aussies, always cheating!”, Albanese tweeted: “Same old Aussies – always winning!”
He added: “I’m proud of our men’s and women’s cricket teams, who have both won their opening two #Ashes matches against England,” and said that Australia was “right behind” the team.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also gave his view on the row, with his spokesperson saying he did not believe Australia’s actions were within the spirit of cricket.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said Sunak agreed with the views of England captain Ben Stokes about the incident.
Following the incident, the England captain questioned whether it was in the “spirit of the game”, saying: “If I was fielding captain at the time, I would have put a lot more pressure on the umpires to ask them what their decision was around the ‘over’.
“Then I would have had a real think about the spirit of the game and would I want to potentially win a game with something like that happening. It would be ‘no’.”
Asked about the controversy on Monday, Sunak’s official spokesperson said: “The prime minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did.
“The game did provide an opportunity to see Ben Stokes at his best and it was an incredible test match and he has confidence England will bounce back at Headingley.”
Asked whether Sunak believed Australia’s actions were not in keeping with the spirit of cricket, his spokesperson said: “Yes.”
Sunak, a keen cricket fan, was at Lord’s on Saturday for the fourth day of the test match. Australia ended up winning by 43 runs despite Stokes’ innings of 155, taking a 2-0 lead.
The 32,000-strong crowd erupted in boos, jeers and repeated choruses of “same old Aussies, always cheating” following Bairstow’s dismissal.
Later in the Long Room, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) members exchanged heated words with Australian players as they walked off at lunch.
Sunak’s spokesman said the prime minister believed it was “right” that the MCC “has taken swift action to suspend any member accused of poor behaviour”.
Ex-England star Sir Geoffrey Boycott also waded into the row, calling on the Australians to make a public apology – if they were man enough. As the rumpus rumbled on, new footage released showed the extraordinary moment when furious MCC members chanting ‘cheat, cheat, cheat’ confronted Australian cricket players as they returned to their dressing room.
A spokesman for Marylebone Cricket Club, which owns Lord’s, confirmed that three of its members had now been suspended, pending an investigation into the furious scenes at lunch on the final day of the second Ashes Test.
Moments earlier, the Australian team had incurred the wrath of the tens of thousands of England fans watching the finely poised game at the historic ground when Bairstow was controversially dismissed in an act seen by many as “not within the spirit of cricket”.
And the new footage showed how three members in the famous Lord’s Long Room then confronted the Australian players as they left the field for lunch.
Amid cries of “cheat cheat cheat”, the unnamed members of the prestigious club were seen in angry exchanges with Australian opening batters David Warner and Usman Khawaja. But Australian stars were also seen pointing and laughing at MCC members as the furious row escalated.
Following the incident, the like of which has never been seen at Lord’s before, the Australian camp expressed its disappointment at the MCC members’ behaviour. Khawaja said the scenes in the Long Room had been “pretty disrespectful” and “really disappointing”.
About the altercation itself, he said he “wasn’t just going to stand by and cop” abuse. Khawaja said: “Lord’s is one of my favourite places to come. There’s always respect shown at Lord’s, particularly in the Members Pavilion in the Long Room, but there wasn’t today. It was very disappointing.
“If anyone asked me where the best place is to play I always say Lord’s. The crowd is great, particularly the members are great, and some of the stuff that was coming out of the members’ mouths is really disappointing and I wasn’t just going stand by and cop it. So I just talked to a few of them. A few of them were throwing out some pretty big allegations and I just called them up on it and they kept going, and I was like, well, this is your membership here. So I’m just pointing them out. But it’s pretty disrespectful, to be honest. I just expect a lot better from the members.”
