Brendon McCullum says there will not be any beers shared between England and Australia anytime soon after Alex Carey’s controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow.
The match-defining moment came when England had its last two specialist batters at the crease on day five of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.
Bairstow and non-striker Ben Stokes were left bemused when Carey threw down the stumps, thinking the ball was dead.
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Indeed, umpires hadn’t called over, and the quick thinking of Carey netted Australia a crucial wicket when England began to edge closer to the total.
The moment went down like a cup of sick, prompting a terse response from England players, staff, and most of all the fans who offered a chorus of boos for the rest of the day.
Bairstow stunned by Carey’s act
“I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer with them any time soon,” McCullum told BBC Sport’s Test Match Special.
“I think it was more about the spirit of the game and when you become older and more mature you realise the game and the spirit of it is something you need to protect.
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“You have to make decisions in the moment and they can have affects on games and people’s characters.
“By the letter of the law, he is out. Jonny was not trying to take a run and the umpires had called over.
“It is one of those difficult ones to swallow and you look at the small margins it is incredibly disappointing.
“But lots of people will have their opinion on both sides of the fence. But the most disappointing thing is that it will be the most talked about event of a great Test match.”
The ball is only considered dead when both teams acknowledge the fact.
Carey caught the ball off Cameron Green’s bowling and in one swift movement threw down the stumps.
Even if the umpires had moved, the argument could be made that Australia were still playing.
There is a certain element of irony in all of this, considering two days earlier Bairstow tried to execute the exact same style of dismissal against Marnus Labuschagne – but failed.
Australia were 1-79 when Bairstow threw the ball at the stumps and missed. In that instance, Labuschagne was aware of the fact and kept his ground.
It’s even more ironic that McCullum has a grievance considering he has pulled off the same or similar stunts.
The first notable incident was in 2005 when McCullum ran Zimbabwe’s Christopher Mpofu out while Blessing Mahwire celebrated his half-century.
In 2009, he stumped England’s Paul Collingwood. However, in that instance, McCullum and then-captain Daniel Vettori called Collingwood back
In another instance, McCullum ran Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan out when Kumar Sangakkara was celebrating his century.
Years later, the former New Zealand captain apologised for the move.
“If I could turn back time, I would,” said McCullum in 2016.
“We were within the laws of the game, but not the spirit, and there is a very, very important difference, which is glaringly obvious to me years later.”
The latest incident has raised questions about the so-called spirit of the game, if there is such a thing, drawing comparisons to the infamous Mankad.
“We must get one fact loud and clear, the keeper would never have a dip at the stumps from that far out in a Test match unless he or his team have noticed a pattern of the batter leaving his crease after leaving a ball like Bairstow did,” wrote Ravichandran Ashwin on Twitter.
“We must applaud the game smarts of the individual rather than skewing it towards unfair play or spirit of the game.”
Tensions rise ahead of lunch break
Former England captain Alastair Cook weighed in as well.
“The spirit of cricket – it’s similar to the Mankad, there’s not much skill in what Carey did,” said Cook on BBC Sport’s Test Match Special.
“If it was bothering Australia then they should have told Bairstow he was leaving his crease too early.
“Bairstow was dopey, it was foolish. He assumed that tap was enough… I’ve now lost my train of thought.”
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