Simon Taufel, the former ICC elite umpire who is presently a member of the MCC laws sub-committee, has suggested Australia had not breached the Spirit of Cricket when Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow on the fifth day of the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
"Was Jonny Bairstow's dismissal at Lords a breach of the Spirit of Cricket?" Taufel wrote in a post on LinkedIn. "This is a question I have been inundated with, so I thought it best to share my thoughts publicly by asking everyone a question or eight to consider …
"Have you seen any umpire tell a fielding side that the keeper standing back is not allowed to attempt a stumping?
"Was there a complaint from anyone when Bairstow tried to stump Marnus exactly the same way in the first innings?
"What has Jonny Bairstow said about his dismissal? He has been very quiet. Why?
"My experience is when people don't like a dismissal under the Laws of Cricket, they cite the Spirit of Cricket to support their view.
"Which part of the codified Preamble (the Spirit of Cricket) was breached by the fielding side?
"What did the fielding side do in effecting a legitimate dismissal that unfairly impacted the ability of the batter in their attempt not to be dismissed? (Did they run into him or distract him or prevent him making good his ground?)
"Should a batter be immune from dismissal as per the Laws by simply being negligent (and leaving his ground too early)?
"Did England retire Ben Duckett when they disagreed with the Starc catch decision as per the Laws and umpires' decision?
"The hypocrisy and lack of consistency from some people and groups is quite interesting and concerning for the future of our game. Maybe I am the odd one out here? The good news is that we are actively engaged with Test cricket, the best form of the game," he ended.
Bairstow's dismissal took place when England were five down and needed a further 178 runs to win at Lord's. He ducked underneath a short ball from Cameron Green, scratched the crease with his boot and walked down the pitch towards his partner Ben Stokes at the non-striker's end.
Before Bairstow had begun to leave his ground, wicketkeeper Carey had gathered the ball on the bounce and, in one motion, under-armed a throw at stumps at the striker's end. The on-field umpires referred the decision to TV umpire Marais Erasmus, who gave the batter out - and the dismissal was recorded as stumped. Bairstow glared at the Australian huddle as he walked off and boos rang out around Lord's. The crowd - who were largely subdued throughout the first four days of this Test - then chanted repeatedly: "Same old Aussies, always cheating." And as the Australian players walked through the Lord's Long Room at the lunch interval, they were booed and abused by some MCC members.
Australia went on to win the Lord's Test by 43 runs and took a 2-0 lead in the Ashes, but the furore over Bairstow's dismissal has only snowballed as the series moves to Headingley on Thursday.
While Australia captain Pat Cummins defended his decision to appeal for the wicket, his England counterpart Ben Stokes said he wouldn't want to win that way. England's coach Brendon McCullum said the teams wouldn't be sharing a beer any time soon, and that the nature of the dismissal would galvanise England for the rest of the series.
The prime ministers of the two countries - Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese - have also got involved, taking their teams' sides.