Ben Stokes has warned Australia they will face a “ramped up” atmosphere at Headingley following the controversy over Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal during the Second Test at Lord’s.
Australia were booed off by the home crowd and then confronted by angry MCC members in the Long Room after wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw down the stumps as Bairstow left his crease, the batter wrongly assuming that the ball had already been called dead.
With England still 178 runs shy of their target of 371, the incident ended realistic hopes of a series-levelling win, though Stokes’s remarkable innings of 155 for a while had the hosts threatening a repeat of Headingley 2019’s miraculous chase.
Australia’s players faced a hostile reception throughout that series four years ago, when the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner returned to the side following the Sandpapergate scandal, and Stokes is expecting the crowd at Headingley later this week to deliver similar treatment.
“I definitely think it’s going to be ramped up,” he said. “Australia have had their past and have come here a few times since and I think they’re all used to the English crowd. I think that’s part of the sport we play — you get thousands of people who want their team to win and they’ll just jump on something.
“We get it in Australia, 90,000 Australians at the MCG all cursing at you.”
Three MCC members have been suspended following the confrontation in the Long Room, after footage on Sky Sports and social media showed players being heckled and opening batter Usman Khawaja having to be shepherded away by stewards after engaging with one fan.
“Some of the stuff coming out of members’ mouths was really disappointing,” Khawaja said. “I wasn’t going to stand by and cop it. A few of them were throwing out some pretty big allegations. I expect a lot better from the members.”
The MCC issued an unreserved apology and later confirmed they had identified three members as being “directly involved” in the incident and suspended their membership rights with immediate effect, pending an investigation.
“We maintain that the behaviour of a small number of members was completely unacceptable,” MCC chief executive Guy Lavender said.
The umpires’ decision to dismiss Bairstow was correct according to Law 20.1.2, which states that a ball is only declared dead once it is “clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batters at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play”.
However, the incident sparked debate over whether Australia’s appeal was in line with the spirit of the game, given Bairstow was clearly not intending to steal a run, and Stokes insisted he would have withdrawn in similar circumstances.
“I would have had a real think about the spirit of the game and would I want to potentially win a game with something like that happening?” Stokes said. “It would be no.”
Cummins was subjected to jeers from sections of the crowd while being interviewed during the post-match presentation but defended his decision.
“I thought it was fair,” he added. “It’s what keepers do, if you see an opportunity. All credit to Carey, he rolled it at the stumps, Jonny left his crease — you leave the rest to the umpires.”
