Stuart Broad swipes Aussie 'cultural change' after Ashes controversy
Australia's character has come under question after the explosive drama in the second Ashes Test.
England fast bowler Stuart Broad has called Australia's character into question as controversy still swirls over the Jonny Bairstow dismissal in the second Ashes Test at Lord's. Alex Carey's contentious stumping of Bairstow - and the ugly abuse of Australia's players by members inside the Lord's Long Room - were the biggest talking points of Australia's 43-run win.
Both sides have had their say over the Bairstow incident, with England captain Ben Stokes suggesting it was not in the spirit of cricket and the British PM among those to hit out at the Aussies as England seeks an apology over the incident. Pat Cummins and his Aussie side are adamant it was within the laws of the game and have alluded to the hypocrisy of England by pointing out that Bairstow tried to dismiss Marnus Labuschagne in similar circumstances earlier in the series.
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Broad was the batter to replace Bairstow in the middle after the controversy and admits that the "red mist" came over him during a fiery stand with centurion, Stokes. However, the veteran quick pointed to the fact Bairstow took "zero advantage" from straying out of his crease to chat to Stokes after thinking the over was complete.
The England quick said while Cummins has so far expressed no remorse or issue with the Bairstow wicket, he believes the Aussie captain will eventually come to regret his side's actions.
"What amazed me, and what I told the Australians I could not believe as we left the field at lunch, was that not one senior player among them - and I very much understand in the emotion of the game that the bowler and wicketkeeper would have thought 'that's out' - questioned what they had done," Broad wrote in the Daily Mail.
Broad then took a subtle swipe at whether the Aussies really had undergone a "cultural change", in the wake of the 'Sandpapergate' scandal. Cummins' side have been reminded about the infamous 2018 ball-tampering scandal ad nauseam during the Ashes series, with the Barmy Army regularly chanting: "Same old Aussies, always cheating".
Broad said it was hard for him to fathom that none of Cummins' men - despite their mantra about playing cricket in the right spirit - thought it was wrong to uphold the Bairstow appeal. "Especially given what their team has been through over recent years, with all their cultural change," Broad added.
"Not one of them said 'Hang on, lads. I'm not really sure about this'. Ultimately, Pat Cummins is a really great guy and I would be amazed, once the emotion settles, if he does not sit back and think 'I got that one wrong'."
Pat Cummins shuts down journo over furore
Ex-players, pundits and even British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have weighed in on the debate, while Cummins expertly shut down an English journalist after being asked whether we might see "Mankads or underarm bowling later on this series". The Aussie skipper replied: “Ah. I mean, depends how flat the wickets get. It might be an option to turn to,” prompting a laugh among assembled media.
Cummins is adamant the blame for the incident lies on Bairstow, who the Aussies noticed straying out of his crease before the controversial incident. “I thought it was fair,” he said. “You know, you see Jonny do it all the time.
"He did it day one to Davey Warner, he did it in 2019 to Steve (Smith), it’s a really common thing for keepers to do if they see a batter keep leaving their crease, so (Carey), full credit to him, saw the opportunity.
"I think Jonny did it a few balls beforehand, (Carey) rolled it at the stumps, Jonny left his crease. You leave the rest to the umpires.”
Simon Taufel - a respected former umpire and member of the MCC Rules Committee - said while England won't like it, the correct decision was made. "For that ball to be considered dead after the over or even after the delivery, both sides need to disregard that it is in play," he told ABC Grandstand.
"Clearly, the fielding side hadn't. We actually tweaked the laws several years ago in this space, that the umpire was not to call over until the ball was dead anyway, so even on the call of 'over' the umpire has to be satisfied that the ball is dead in the first place. So they didn't."
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