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Jonny Bairstow has effectively accused Australia of claiming unfair catches during the Ashes series, in his first extensive reflection on the Alex Carey stumping that saw the tourists showered with abuse at Lord\u2019s and for much of the Ashes series afterwards.<\/p>\n
Moeen Ali, meanwhile, has stated that Pat Cummins and Australia were still tarred with the \u201ccheats\u201d label from the 2018 Newlands scandal because they did not withdraw their appeal against Bairstow.<\/p>\n
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Alex Carey celebrates his stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord\u2019s; an incident that caused tension in the Ashes series.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Reuters<\/cite><\/p>\n The frank views of Bairstow and Moeen are published in a new book about England and the memorable Ashes series, Bazball<\/i>, extracts from which were published in the Telegraph<\/em> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Bairstow pointed to Steve Smith\u2019s catch of Joe Root in the first innings at Lord\u2019s, and also another instance where he claimed Marnus Labuschagne appealed for a catch that did not carry.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing I can do about it,\u201d Bairstow told the authors. \u201cThe decision was that I was out, and I moved on. I\u2019ve not brought it up since. I\u2019ve kept quiet. It\u2019s on them. If that\u2019s how they want to go about it and win a cricket game or what have you, then so be it.<\/p>\n \u201cBen (England captain Ben Stokes) has said what he said, and he\u2019s right. There have been other bits. There\u2019s conjecture around everything. Fingers underneath the ball when the ball\u2019s still touching the ground. Celebrating when the ball has touched the ground. Marnus celebrated at Edgbaston at short-leg.<\/p>\n \u201cThen the one that Rooty fell to at Lord\u2019s, when [Smith] said his fingers were underneath the ball. However, they were splayed widely. But that was given out, that\u2019s fine \u2013 it\u2019s part and parcel of the game and the decisions the umpires give.\u201d<\/p>\n Bairstow was interviewed before the final Test at the Oval, where Stokes called for a review of an appeal against Steve Smith after he lost control of the ball while trying to throw it up in celebration. England ultimately won to tie the series 2-2, and the teams did not drink together in the dressing rooms after the game – ending a long tradition.<\/p>\n Bairstow maintained the view put to the world by Stokes that the Carey stumping was not in the spirit of the game because it was the end of the over, even though the laws of the game clearly state that it is not the unilateral right of the batter to decide when the ball is dead.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re two different things,\u201d Bairstow said. \u201cIf you\u2019re starting out of your crease, you\u2019re trying to gain an advantage. If you start in your crease, and not trying to take a run, and you finish in your crease … That\u2019s the bit \u2013 if you try to gain an advantage, then it\u2019s fair game. But if you\u2019re starting in your crease, you\u2019ve ducked, tap, tap, scratched. I\u2019ve even dragged my bat, looked up, and then gone.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen it happen from someone starting in their crease. I don\u2019t think you want that filtering down into kids\u2019 cricket. Look at the Mankads and everything like that. You want young kids to be out there batting and having fun, not thinking about whether the fielders might do this or that.<\/p>\n \u201cIt might tarnish people\u2019s enjoyment of the game that we\u2019re trying to get kids into. You want to be out there batting and bowling, rather than thinking about the 11 different ways you can get someone out.\u201d<\/p>\n Moeen, meanwhile, put his name to a popular link that was drawn immediately after the Lord\u2019s Test, that the Australian team were unreformed from the 2018 ball tampering affair in South Africa.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought, oh my god, this is going to kick off now \u2013 Bluey [Bairstow] is fuming here,\u201d Moeen said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy view was it was out, obviously. I just thought it was a great opportunity for Pat Cummins to put to bed a lot of the things that have happened previously.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n