Australian cricket's reputation is at stake following Bairstow wicket - Yorkshire Post Letters

Having read some of the Australian press regarding the most recent Ashes controversy, it's not surprising to see that old nutshell the 'whingeing poms’ has been resurrected Down Under in relation to the Carey-Cummins-Bairstow affair.Whilst I’m not surprised at the general Australian reaction, there is, I would suggest, another way of looking at things.

Bairstow was clearly out of his crease in terms of the rules of cricket. But, if you watch a video of the movement of both umpires, they also thought the over was over before the stumps were broken by Carey.

The square leg umpire looked down at his feet and started walking in, in readiness for the next over. And the umpire behind the stumps also looked down, this time to his pocket, to retrieve the bowler’s cap, and started to take a step sideways. Although neither umpire called ‘over,’ their body language clearly indicated as such.

Because the two umpires weren’t looking at the action at the vital moment - which they should have been - they chickened out and passed the decision to the 3rd umpire.

He concluded (very quickly and in all probability without studying the body language of the two on-field umpires) that Bairstow was out. The third umpire’s decision was based on the laws of cricket (that is his obligation), not the spirit of cricket.

Bearing in mind the impact Sandpaper Gate had on the reputation of the Australian cricket team and the amount of time it took for it to be restored, in my view the on-field umpires and the Australian captain should get in a huddle, recognise the importance of the concept of the spirit of cricket, and declare the result of the second test null and void.

If they don’t Carey (an excellent keeper) and Cummins (a worthy captain) will be branded in the same way as Warner and Smith have been as a result of Sandpaper Gate.

I don’t believe that’s a good thing, for either of them; for the Australian cricket team; or indeed for the reputation of this Ashes series.

There is winning and there’s winning at all costs. The two things are not the same.