Sydney/Hyderabad — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended his country’s Ashes cricket team on Tuesday, after his UK counterpart said a dismissal in the second Test was against the spirit of the game.
With England on 193/5 and chasing a mammoth target of 371, Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey underarmed the ball at the stumps after batsman Jonny Bairstow left his crease at the end of an over on the fifth day of the match.
The dismissal triggered long, loud booing from the crowd at Lord’s on Sunday. MCC members verbally abused Australian players in the stadium’s usually staid Long Room.
Australia stands behind the victorious team, Albanese said on Tuesday. “Same old Aussies — always winning,” Albanese said on Twitter, in a nod to a chant sung by English fans after the decision that went “Same old Aussies — always cheating”.
Albanese’s say came after UK counterpart Rishi Sunak said he “simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did”, according to a spokesperson on Monday in comments reported by the BBC.
Asked whether Australia’s actions are not in keeping with the spirit of cricket, the spokesperson said, “Yes”, the BBC reported.
The Ashes series between England and Australia takes its name from a small urn that represents the death of English cricket dating from when they were first defeated on home soil by their former penal colony in 1882.
England fast bowler Stuart Broad said he is “amazed” no senior Australia players considered withdrawing the stumping appeal.
“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 ... questioned what they had done,” Broad, 37, wrote in his Daily Mail column on Monday.
“Ultimately, [Australia captain] Pat Cummins is a great guy and I would be amazed, once the emotion settles, if he does not sit back and think: ‘I got that one wrong’, even though his bottom line at the time was winning a Test match.
“The Lord’s crowd are obviously huge cricket lovers and never before have I seen such a reaction from them like that.”
Broad also referred to Australia’s onfield culture change instilled by Cummins and the contrast to the attitude before the infamous 2018 ball-tampering episode in SA.
“I was angered by Australia’s decision, particularly having heard their lines about creating a new legacy as a team, and how they have changed since the tour of SA in 2018,” said Broad.
“I just said to Pat on repeat, ‘All these boos are for you, for your decision’. And: ‘What a great opportunity you had to think clearly.’
“To Alex Carey, I said, ‘This is what you’ll be remembered for, and that’s such a shame’.”
The third Ashes Test begins at Headingley on Thursday.
Reuters
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