The world is currently witnessing the greatness and bitterness of the cricketing rivalry between England and Australia at the same time. The ongoing Ashes in England has been nothing short of a blockbuster movie. Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes and others have made it difficult to take the eyes off the action on the field. On the other hand, there has been no shortage of aggression and banter between the two sides. But nothing surpassed the spice-quotient fuelled by Jonny Bairstow's dismissal on Day 5 of the Lord's Test, which Australia, in the end, won by 43 runs to go 2-0 up in the five-match series.
Bairstow's stumping of Alex Carey not only rekindled the age-old spirit of cricket debate but also angered the English fans to such an extent that even the members could not hold themselves back from namecalling the Australian cricketers and abusing them at the Long Room. While the MCC took swift action by suspending three members after an official complaint from Cricket Australia, the controversy is anything but over with the respective Prime Ministers getting involved with contrasting statements on the Bairstow dismissal.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in an official statement through a spokesperson, put his weight behind the England team and accused the Australian players of not following the spirit of the game.
"The prime minister agrees with (England captain) Ben Stokes who said he simply wouldn't want to win a game in the manner that Australia did," the spokesman said.
{{/usCountry}}"The prime minister agrees with (England captain) Ben Stokes who said he simply wouldn't want to win a game in the manner that Australia did," the spokesman said.
{{/usCountry}}Sunak, though, had no intention of lodging an official protest with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, to reprise the serious diplomatic strains created by England's "Bodyline" tactics in the 1932-33 Ashes Down Under.
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also joined in by taking an indirect dig at the English fans and media for calling the Aussies "cheat".
"I’m proud of our men’s and women’s cricket teams, who have both won their opening two #Ashes matches against England. Same old Aussies – always winning! Australia is right behind Alyssa Healy and Pat Cummins and their teams and look forward to welcoming them home victorious," Albanese tweeted.
In the multi-format Women's Ashes too, Australia have displayed thorough dominance by beating England in the one-off Test and in the first of the three T20Is.
The men's team, meanwhile, will play the third Test with an eye on sealing the series. It begins on Thursday at Leeds.