The Ashes: Pat Cummins says Australia have no regrets about dismissal of England's Jonny Bairstow
The fallout from Jonny Bairstow's controversial dismissal continues heading into the third Ashes Test at Headingley; watch the third Test at Headingley live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Thursday, with the first ball at 11am
Thursday 6 July 2023 06:29, UK
Australia captain Pat Cummins says his team "did nothing wrong" after Jonny Bairstow's controversial dismissal on the final day at Lord's during the second Ashes Test.
Bairstow was out stumped by Alex Carey on day five of the second Test on Sunday, wandering out of his crease at the end of an over, with the third umpire upholding Australia's appeal as the ball was not deemed 'dead'.
The incident has divided opinion and footage of Stuart Broad talking to Carey has emerged, with the England player saying: "That's all you're ever going to be remembered for, that."
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England and Australia will resume their battle when the third Test gets under way at Headingley, live on Sky Sports Cricket from Thursday (10am on air, 11am first ball).
"I think the way our team have conducted themselves over the last couple of years has been flawless. We have been fantastic and I think that was showed again on day five at Lord's," said Cummins.
"We did nothing wrong, we are all comfortable with that. I don't think the aim of playing cricket [is to shut up critics]."
He added: "I 100 per cent think spirit of cricket is a real thing. I think at times there is nuance to it and everybody might see it a little bit differently, which is fine.
"I think it is one of the beauties of our sport, it's a gentleman's sport and you want to maintain respect at all times for the opposition, the umpire, the fans, the game. It is one of the strengths of our game."
Stokes: Best thing is to move on
England coach Brendon McCullum says Australia may regret their decision as time goes on, which Ben Stokes agrees with.
"It is always important, the way in which the game is played. It is something spoken about for a very long time and that should be the case going forward as well," he said.
"I think Brendon answered this well, reflecting on decisions he made. Now he is older and has had time to reflect, which is the biggest thing, he knows he might have gone about things differently."
He continued: "I don't think we can galvanise as a group any more than we have. There has been a lot of noise about the incident at Lord's but the best thing everyone can do is move on.
"Jonny is fine. We have seen in the past that any sort of criticism of him he has always managed to do something. If he uses what happened last week as some kind of inspiration, who knows? I would say do whatever you need to do."
Stokes: Long Room incident will be looked at
There was more drama when Australia pair David Warner and Usman Khawaja appeared to remonstrate with spectators in the Long Room as they returned to the dressing room for lunch on day five of the Lord's Test.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) suspended three members after Cricket Australia reported "several incidents involving spectators in the members area" following alleged abuse of players.
"The MCC are taking it upon themselves to investigate what happened in the Long Room. I think they will properly do that. The MCC don't want to tarnish their name or reputation in any way," said Stokes.
"In terms of here, I can't really comment on, 'do this, don't do that'. Everyone knows what the atmosphere is like here and we know what the atmosphere is like in Australia. It's going to be one of those things where we will have the home support fully behind us."
Watch the third Ashes Test live on Sky Sports Cricket from Thursday. Build-up starts at 10am ahead of the first ball at 11am. You can stream the men's and women's Ashes series on NOW.
