'Do I want to win in that manner? No': Stokes unhappy with Bairstow dismissal; Cummins says 'that how the rule is'

Even though it was well within the rules of the sport, England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum made a spicy remark on the dismissal

The talk around Australia's win and the manner in which it happened has been overshadowed by the debate on spirit of cricket pertaining to that dismissal of Jonny Bairstow moments before Lunch on the final day at Lord's in the second Test match of the Ashes series. And even though the dismissal stands well within the rules of the sport, England captain Ben Stokes and his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins made rather contrasting remarks on the dismissal, adding a new dimension to the spirit of cricket debate.

Ben Stokes and Pat Cummins shared contrasting views on Jonny Bairstow's dismissal.(Getty)

Believing that the ball was dead after he had ducked a shortish delivery from Cameron Green, Bairstow had walked out of the crease in leisurely manner towards his partner Stokes. But an aware Alex Carey immediately under armed the ball to dislodged the bails to pull off a rarest of rare dismissals. Bairstow was left completely befuddled while English crowd fumed and booed at the Aussie team throughout.

After Australia went 2-0 in the series with a 43-run win at Lord's, Stokes was asked to give his verdict on the dismissal in an interaction BBC Test Match Special. Although he did not opine on whether it was out or not, he revealed that had it happened to Australia, he being the captain would withdraw the dismissal. He further added that he would never want to win in that fashion.

Stokes said: "My thoughts around it is, when is it justified that umpires have called 'over'? Does the square leg umpire making some movement justify that? Jonny Bairstow was in his crease and then came out to have a chat in the middle. I’m not disputing if it was out, it was.

"If the shoe was on the other foot, I would've had to think about the whole spirit of the game. But it has happened, it was out. We have to move on… Do I want to win in that manner? No."

Cummins calls it 'totally fair play'

Cummins however saw nothing wrong with it. Defending his team, the Australia captain said the decision was pre-meditated and that Carey had noticed Bairstow stepping out several times before he ultimately opted to throw the ball on to the stumps.

"I think Carey saw it happen a few balls previously, three or four balls previously, and there's no pause, catch it, straightaway and throw at the stumps. I thought it was totally fair play. That's how the rule is. Some people might disagree. That's how I saw it," Cummins told Sky TV during the post-match presentation.

"You see Jonny do it all the time. He did it on 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 about a batter keep leaving their crease. So Kez [Carey], full credit to him. He saw the opportunity. I think Jonny did it a few balls beforehand. Rolled it at the stumps. Jonny left his crease. You leave the rest to the umpires," he later said during the press conference.