“The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia” an article published by The Sporting Times in 1882, was the dawn of one the greatest rivalries the cricketing world has ever seen. This rivalry resulted in one of the most controversial Ashes matches ever played from 28th June to 2nd July 2023.
A laxed effort by England sparked doubts amongst the critics about the whole “Bazball” trend going around. While Ben Stokes played a captain’s innings, scoring a gritty 155 off 214 deliveries, England fell short of victory by 43 runs. A lot can be said about what went wrong for England in this match, but there is more to be said about the decisions taken, both by players, and umpires. One of the most controversial decisions in this series of the Ashes was undoubtedly the dismissal of Johnny Bairstow. It was the last ball of the over, as Bairstow ducked a fast-approaching short ball. Thinking the ball was dead now, he slowly drifted out of the crease, only to hear the stumps rattle behind him as Alex Carey was sharp with his throw, stumping Bairstow out. But, was that the right thing to do?
“Would I want to win that way? The answer would probably be no,” said Ben Stokes, who had fought valiantly to bring his team over the line, almost pulling off another Headingley. He heavily criticized the Australian team for not pulling the appeal away. This led to the Australian newspapers making a mockery out of him, calling him a crybaby.
Michael Vaughan says, what Australia did was within the law, but did it uphold the spirit of the game? The same was said about Bairstow, who walked off the crease without looking back at the keeper and acknowledging the end of the over.
The Australian skipper says that it was absolutely fair, as Johnny Bairstow did the same to David Warner on day 1 and to Steve Smith in 2019. “Johnny left his crease, you leave the rest to the umpires,” and so the verdict was given out.
“Well I don’t think we’ll be having a beer anytime soon…” was Brendon McCullum’s statement after the second test got done. Clearly unhappy, the England coach bashed the Australian team, saying “I’d hope we’d make a different decision, and knowing the boys and the skipper, we would have.”
A lot could be said about the dismissal, and everyone will have a different opinion on the incident. But this just goes to show how fierce and deep the rivalry goes. “In the end, it’s all about winning,” said Nasser Hussain on Sky Sports, and rightly so. McCullum and company will be looking to come back stronger after a 2-0 deficit, and hope to turn things around. Will it be Australia’s 35th series win? Or will England hold on by a thread, looking to claim their 33rd?
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