England captain Ben Stokes has suggested he wouldn't want to win an Ashes test in the manner in which Australia emerged victorious at Lord's.
The Aussies withstood an England rally to win the second test by 43 runs and go 2-0 up in the series. However, earlier in the afternoon, the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow caused plenty of controversy.
Bairstow stepped out of his crease at the end of an over, but Australia wicket-keeper Alex Carey threw the still-live ball at the stumps to leave England six down. The incident was an unpopular one with many of those inside Lord's, and Stokes has now given his thoughts.
"Would I want to win a game in that matter? I think the answer for me is no," Stokes told the BBC's Test Match Special.
"There's lots of factors. I would ask the umpires whether they had called over. The made a move towards the end of the over. But at then of the day it is out.
"If the shoe was on the other foot I would have had a think about the whole spirit of the game. But is has happened. It was out. We have to move on."
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Meanwhile Australia captain Pat Cummins saw the incident differently.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Cummins said: "I think Carey saw it happen a few balls previous, there was no pause. Catch it and throw at the stumps. I thought it was totally fair play. I know some people disagree but it's like the catch yesterday. That's how I saw it."
Stokes hit 155 off 214 balls as he attempted to help chase down 371, but England fell short after he was caught by Carey. There were shades of the third test in 2019, when an unbeaten 135 from Stokes at Headingley helped deliver England an unlikely victory.
"Having experienced something similar before you look back at things like that and have a game plan," Stokes added. "I did look back at Headingley but unfortunately is wasn't enough.
"I got to the point where Australia changed their plans so I changed mine as well. It is a tough one to take getting so close but being involved in a great game is awesome. We are 2-0 down but we have three games left. We beat Pakistan and New Zealand 3-0 so that is how we have to look at it."
England will need to win at Headingley in the third test to stand any chance of winning the Ashes. Former captain Michael Vaughan pointed to the Bairstow controversy as a turning point, but also offered some advice ahead of the trip up to Yorkshire.
"That Stokes' inning was fuelled by that controversy. He just switched gear after that into overdrive," Vaughan said. "The courage that the tailenders showed. James Anderson took an absolute peppering.
"Can they win at least? Of course they can. They need to get to Leeds and I think they can beat this Australia side at Leeds. They just need to forget about the three games they need to win and just focus on winning at Leeds. England have to be realistic about the way they have played that cricket."
