With the third Ashes Test scheduled to be played between July 6-10, the dust seemed to have settled over England batter Jonny Bairstow's controversial dismissal in the second Test at Lord's which Australia won by 43 runs to 2-0 in the five-game series. On the eve of the 3rd Test at Headingley, England captain Ben Stokes insisted it was time "everyone moved on" from the incident, which reinvigorated the 'Spirit of Cricket' debate. Former England Nasser Hussain has revealed that Australia great Ricky Ponting told him off-air that the visiting skipper, Pat Cummins, "might have to re-think his appeal".
"And what did you think of that controversial Bairstow dismissal? You said off-air when it happened that Pat Cummins might have to re-think his appeal," Hussain said during his interview with Ponting for The Daily Mail.
Ponting, however, clarified his comment by saying that he was more eager to see what Cummins would do in that situation.
"I just thought it would be a test for Pat. I didn't think he had to withdraw the appeal, that's for sure. The more clarification we've had about the decision, the more we know the correct call was made. It has gone down as a stumping, not a run-out. That's all you need to know. Jonny did the wrong thing and he's paid for it by losing his wicket in an Ashes Test. It's as simple as that," Ponting replied.
Speaking on Carey, who orchestrated Bairstow's dismissal, Ponting threw his weight behind the Australia keeper, saying that it's his job to take catches and make stumpings.
"What I would say is Alex Carey is a keeper and his job is to take catches and make stumpings. The funny thing is, if you watch the replay, Jonny is still in his crease when Carey throws the ball so Australia must have been expecting it," the former Australia captain added.