Picture Credit: Twitter
Australia are just a win away from clinching their first Ashes title victory since 2001. The Pat Cummins-led side took away victory from their English rivals and won the second match of the Ashes 2023 Test by 43 runs on July 2, Sunday. Despite the victory, the Aussies were criticised by fans and experts for the controversial Jonny Bairstow dismissal.
Not only this, even the media didn’t stop and compared the dismissal with mankading, and asked questions related to the same. Post their win, the Aussie skipper Cummins had to respond to several questions during the press conference. One of the English reporters first asked Cummins if he believes in the ‘Spirit of Cricket’, to which the skipper replied in positive.
Following this, the reporter seemingly took a shot at the 30-year-old, and asked whether the Baggy Greens would also use non-striker run-outs, which are legal and the illegal underarm bowling, following the controversial Jonny Bairstow dismissal. The reporter asked, “Are we going to see under arm bowling and Mankad from Australia in this series?”
Watch the video here:
The Baggy Greens captain responded to the ‘taunt-like’ question and sarcastically pointed out England hosting Ashes on flat pitches to support their batting. Cummins said, “Depends how flat the wickets get. Might be an option to turn to.”
On the final day of the second Ashes 2023 Test, Jonny Bairstow got dismissed in the 52nd over, as he walked out of the crease thinking the ball was dead. While the way Bairstow was sent is legal, it was heavily criticised as it was completely against sportsmanship.
Notably, the ‘underarm’ taunt by the reporter referred to the 1981 incident when Australia’s Trevor Chappel bowled an underarm to New Zealand’s Brian McKechnie in an ODI match in Melbourne. It was the last ball of the game, and New Zealand needed only six runs to win it, but McKechnie could manage to play only a defensive shot against the delivery.
