The front page of the West Australian on Monday morning
‘Puce-faced MCC Snobs’: Australian Media Hit out over Jonny Bairstow Controversy
By Telegraph Sport
Victoria Police mocked England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow following his controversial dismissal in the second Ashes Test as the Australian reaction divided between comical and furious.
Australian newspapers hit out at the “puce-faced MCC snobs” who “should learn their own rules” following the backlash to Alex Carey’s stumping of England’s Bairstow on Sunday, which played a major factor in the tourists taking a 2-0 advantage in this summer’s Ashes series.
As Bairstow regrettably walked out of his crease while batting during Sunday’s opening session, Carey threw the ball at the stumps and caught his fellow wicketkeeper out of his crease, therefore dismissing him by the letter of the sport’s laws.
It was the response issued by Victoria Police’s Twitter account which tickled Australian cricket fans the most, as they enjoyed an image of Bairstow’s lapse in concentration alongside an image of a pedestrian crossing telling him not to jaywalk.
The pick of the Australian front pages on Monday morning was the West Australian, which depicted Ben Stokes as a baby, accusing the “Poms” of “taking whingeing to new level with ‘cheating’ drivel”.
MCC members also came in for a fair amount of stick after the Long Room confrontation between a group of them and Australian players.
The Sydney Morning Herald said “the final day of the second Ashes Test descended into chaos”. Andrew Webster wrote: “The first rule of MCC Fight Club is know the rules of cricket...I would have thought membership to the most famous club in cricket meant you understood the laws of the game.”
It was a theme continued in The Australian with Gideon Haigh suggesting “puce-faced MCC snobs should learn their own rules”.
Referring to the confrontation with opener Usman Khawaja at the lunch interval, he wrote: “What could be a worse look in the week of the Equity in Cricket report than dim-bulb snobs picking fights with a placid, softly-spoken Muslim player? Chaps, pull yourselves together.”
Australia's players were confronted by MCC members in the Long Room at lunch after the stumping of Jonny Bairstow
Former Australia bowler Jason Gillespie stressed the need to ditch the confusing ‘spirit of cricket’ mantra and let the laws do the job they are designed to do.
“I like the fact that the laws of the game were applied,” Gillespie said. “It’s never sat well with me that we have a ‘spirit of cricket’ philosophy that is interpreted differently from country to country. For example, next time you see an Indian player bat, observe what they do when the ball goes through to the wicketkeeper – they always look behind and to the square leg umpire to get the nod to leave the crease.
“My belief is that by playing within the laws of the game you are playing within the spirit of the game. Because we have so many opinions around the world about what constitutes this so called ‘spirit of cricket’, it creates confusion when a controversial situation arises. The laws were applied when Mitchell Starc ‘grassed’ a catch on Saturday to reprieve Ben Duckett and sticking to them minimizes confusion.”
However, the feeling was not shared across the entire Australian media.
The Canberra Times said the stumping incident “exposes cricket’s ugliest debate” between spirit and rules.
But there were dissenting voices among the Australia press, the Daily Telegraph saying that “Australia forever taints famous Ashes win”.
Phil Rothfield wrote: “The greatest moments in Australian sport are often not about winning, but great acts of sportsmanship. This Ashes win will be remembered, but not for the right reasons.”
Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg also joined the loud chorus on the other side of the toss, saying that the stumping was against the spirit of the game.
“Not Out,” Hogg said on Twitter. “Spirit of cricket pushed to the boundary. Not attempting a run, end of over, scratched crease then walked for the regulation BS chat between overs between batsman.” – The Telegraph
