Australia captain Pat Cummins has defended the stumping of Jonny Bairstow during the Lord’s Test, referring to it as a ‘non-event’ and dismissing the conversation surrounding the ‘spirit of cricket’ in relation to the dismissal.
Notably, Bairstow was caught out of his crease after assuming the end of the over, leading to criticism from the England camp and former cricketers. However, Cummins reckoned it was a straightforward stumping and sees no room for debate.
“I don’t think a conversation about the spirit of cricket even comes into a dismissal like that. It was plain and simple a stumping. For what I think is a pretty common non-event, it does seem like everyone has a pretty strong opinion about it. I don’t think there’s any discussion; it’s out. If the shoe was on the other foot, I wouldn’t be looking at the opposition, I’d probably be thinking [about] our own batter, and would be thinking it’s pretty silly,” said Cummins as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Addressing the criticism, Cummins emphasized that his team focuses on their own performance rather than external factors. He stated, “I know what our team does, and that’s [why] we concentrate on ourselves. When we haven’t been playing up to scratch, we look pretty deeply at what we are doing, and try to make amends. We don’t apportion blame to conditions or opposition or anything else going on.”
The controversial dismissal triggered tension not only on the field but also in the famous Long Room at Lord’s, where members confronted the Australian players. Opener Usman Khawaja expressed disappointment at the confrontation, and Cummins commended his team’s conduct in the face of constant outside pressure.
“I’m really proud of how our boys have conducted themselves [on] this tour, especially on that day five. [I] thought the way they maintained respect for the opposition, the umpires [and] the crowd, their dignity was first-class,” Cummins remarked.
For the unversed, the Bairstow dismissal occurred during a crucial phase of the match, as Ben Stokes led England’s fourth-innings chase with an impressive 155 runs. However, despite Stokes’ remarkable performance, England ended up losing the match and trailing 2-0 in the Ashes series.
