Forget ‘spirit’, England should play by rules
As yet another enthralling Ashes Test ended on Sunday at cricket’s cathedral, Lord’s, with Australia going 2–0 up in the series, the talking point was neither England captain Ben Stokes’ valiant ton nor Nathan Lyon hobbling out to bat on Saturday for the visitors. No, not even the barrage of bouncers that dominated the match. Instead, it was a fair dismissal. Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw back the ball to stump Jonny Bairstow, who appeared to have casually left the crease, assuming the ball was dead. Usman Khawaja was abused in the Long Room by the members of the Marylebone Cricket Club. The English crowd booed the visitors, calling them ‘Cheating Aussies’. The incident invoked the ‘spirit of cricket’ discourse again.
The argument was that Bairstow had no intention of stealing a run. After the match, Stokes said he wouldn’t want to win a Test match like that, while Pat Cummins maintained that the dismissal was well within the rules. What seemed baffling was the way the fans behaved. The vitriol spewed by some past England cricketers, too, has been off the charts. Geoffrey Boycott wants the Australian team to issue a public apology. For what? For following the rules? The only person who didn’t abide by the laws codified in the game was the one who suffered. Bairstow shouldn’t have left his crease. Commentating, Michael Atherton called it ‘dozy play’. That’s precisely what it was.
The script, of course, is familiar. There have been instances when out-of-the-ordinary ways of dismissing a batter have been questioned. There is no better example than R Ashwin running out Jos Buttler for leaving the crease at the non-striker’s end before the bowler released the ball. India’s star off-spinner has always maintained that if there is a rule, it should be considered part of the game. As for the dismissal, calling it unfair would be ridiculous.
It’s a dismissal that has been part of the game since the beginning of The Ashes—W G Grace ran out Sammy Jones, which was followed by England’s first home defeat and the birth of this rivalry in 1882. Current England head coach Brendon McCullum effected such runouts, including the one to dismiss his assistant coach Paul Collingwood. You can’t keep invoking something that’s, at best—notional—and claim to be the aggrieved party. England has been guilty of this far too often. Suggest they start playing by the rules.