If he had not been so controversially dismissed on Sunday, Johnny Bairstow might possibly have won the match for England. He would probably have had the necessary 42 runs in him, which the tail-enders didn’t.
But that isn’t the important thing. Quite apart from its effect on the result of the game, the nature of YJB’s dismissal has sullied an Ashes series that was developing – whoever the ultimate victor – into one of the best of modern times. I’m one of those old-fashioned cricket fans who admire the game for its ‘spirit’; against which the Aussies clearly offended by not withdrawing their appeal. For me, the remainder of the series will now be inevitably devalued.
But: am I necessarily a worse human being for being more angered by this incident – albeit hopefully only momentarily – than by Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine?
(American readers may not understand. I’m afraid the US won its independence before cricket was firmly rooted there. I see that the modern US has a national team, but mostly made up of people with south Asian names. – I wonder whether the idea of ‘sportsmanship’ – ‘it’s just not cricket’ – has the same purchase there that it used to have in the UK? Obviously not in the GOP.)
Porter’s Pensées 
It is hard not to suspect that Australia, the ungrateful colonial son/daughter, is proving to be a useful temporary scapegoat for much of England’s pent up frustration and angst, that is connected to its national decline.
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I cannot quite grasp why this unsporting behaviour of the Australian team is being treated so dramatically: “For me, the remainder of the series will now be inevitably devalued.” Given that what Alex Carey did was entirely within the rules of the game and that Bairstow himself had tried exactly the same gambit himself earlier in the Test to try to dismiss an Australian batsman, it is hard to see how the shock, horror claims can be justified.
Those with longish memories might recall too that one of the most outraged English players at Lords, Stuart Broad, behaved in a defiantly unsporting manner himself ten years ago in an Ashes Test. At Trent Bridge in 2013, he edged a ball to first slip and was manifestly out. He refused to walk, which was his right within the rules of the game; however, he clearly defied the ‘spirit of the game’, which he now claims to champion.
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i think the point is that Bairstow was obviously not trying to take an advantage – to steal a run – when he was dismissed. I don’t know about the other cases.
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No stumped batsman is ever trying to take an (unfair) advantage or steal a run. If that were the criterion, all stumped batsmen would be recalled.
Bairstow certainly tried the same thing earlier in the test. Stokes said he would have recalled the Australian batsman if Bairstow had hit the stumps with his throw. Easy to say now.
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