On 2 July, on the final day of the second Test cricket match of the 2023 Ashes series between Australia and England, Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey stumped English batsman Jonny Bairstow at the end of the over, who had been determined by third umpire Marais Erasmus to have left his crease early before the umpire had given the signal to end the over. The English players and fans were extremely displeased with the dismissal, stating it was not "the spirit of cricket." The Australian reaction was unsympathetic to England's furore, arguing that Bairstow was still 'fair game' and was not concentrating on what was happening around him, and the dismissal was within the rules of the game. Bairstow's decision to walk out of his crease was criticised by former English, Australian and international players, most of whom described it as "dozy."
The incident sparked debates across the cricketing world over what constitutes "the spirit of cricket" versus the recorded laws of the game. It also led to the England crowd becoming unprecedentedly hostile towards the entire Australian team, with negative incidents involving England supporters towards the Australian team occurring at both the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) members' Long Room at Lord's and at Headingley, the next Test match after the stumping. Most vitriol was directed at Carey, along with Australian vice-captain Steve Smith, prompting extra security measures for the Australian team for the final two Tests in Leeds and London. It was also documented in Amazon Prime's series The Test, which followed the Australian men's cricket team throughout the series, revealing that the idea to execute Bairstow's dismissal came from Australian captain Pat Cummins.
The incident
The build-up Day four of the Test match, the day beginning with Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith batting for Australia controlling the momentum, which included Smith three boundaries in a row against England bowler James Anderson. England would change strategies and begin bowling shorter deliveries, which helped turn their day around, including a period they achieved 3 wickets for 10 runs, eventually bowling all of Australia out and leaving England needing 371 runs to win. This innings also included an injured Nathan Lyon coming out to bat, adding 35 runs to Australia's total. England's innings began with Australia's Cameron Green dropping a catch that could have had England opener Ben Duckett out for a duck.
After four of their batters, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root and Harry Brook, had been dismissed; England's run chase saw Australian Mitchell Starc catch a ball hit by Duckett, who had just scored a half-century, only for the decision to be ruled controversially as not out. Third umpire Marais Erasmus called Duckett back after he had determined that Starc had slid the ball onto the grass, which he adjudicated to not have been in control of the ball. This added tension to the environment, which had continued to build throughout the match, and the decision to give the catch not out was polarising amongst both Australian and English players and pundits, with former Australian bowler Glenn McGrath believing it was out, while former England captain Michael Vaughan agreed with Erasmus' decision. England would end the day 257 runs short of victory, with only six wickets in hand after Duckett was dismissed, leaving Jonny Bairstow and captain Ben Stokes as the batters at the crease.
The stumping On the fifth and final day of the match on 2 July 2023, in the 52nd over of England's second innings, Cameron Green came on to bowl for Australia. Green bowled a bouncer on the final ball of the over, which Jonny Bairstow ducked under. After Green had passed him by, Bairstow immediately started to walk towards his captain and batting partner, Ben Stokes. Just over a second later, Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who still had possession of the ball, threw it into the stumps once Bairstow had left his crease and appealed for the wicket, as on-field umpire Ahsan Raza had not yet called the over as completed.
Raza and fellow on-field umpire, Chris Gaffaney, had both missed the dismissal, thus referred the decision to third umpire Marais Erasmus to determine whether the ball was declared dead at the time of Carey hitting the stumps. Erasmus, on watching the video replay, determined that the ball had still been live, and neither Gaffaney nor Raza had signalled the end of the over, declaring Bairstow to be out. The decision drew the immediate ire of England captain Stokes, who was seen angrily yelling words towards the Australian players while boos slowly began to sound out across the Lord's ground.
The Lord's crowd, known for being welcoming and respectful of all opponents playing, began to turn hostile, with a chorus of booing drowning out the sound generated at the ground. England bowler, Stuart Broad, was next to bat, and was visibly aggrieved at the decision, as he and Stokes continued to fire up the England fans over the controversial stumping. Broad began his innings by approaching Carey, Cummins and Marnus Labuschagne. His words to Carey in particular were heard on the stump microphone on the Sky Sports broadcast as, "That's all you're ever going to be remembered for, that." Additionally, Broad was also picked up on the stump microphone, saying to Cummins that the stumping was "the worst thing he had seen on a cricket field".
For the rest of the day, the England fans in the crowd continuously chanted, "Same-old Aussies, always cheating," in protest for the Australian team not withdrawing their appeal. Stokes went on to score 155 runs but was bowled out by Josh Hazlewood with England still needing 70 runs to win. When Australia eventually won the match by bowling England out for 327, the crowd loudly booed.
Aftermath Lord's Long Room
When the Australian team walked through the Long Room on the way to their changing rooms in the pavilion, the Lord's members made their displeasure with Bairstow's dismissal known, with some of them audibly chanting "cheats, cheats, cheats", along with profanities as the Australian team continued to walk past them. In the process, some Lord's members specifically singled out Australian batsman Usman Khawaja, despite Khawaja having no part in the incident and doing nothing to provoke the Lord's members when walking through the Long Room. David Warner was then seen joining Khawaja in the confrontation with the Lord's members before both received assistance from security, as well as umpire Chris Gaffaney, and were ushered away from the room. There were also reports that members had also attempted to trip Warner and Australian vice-captain Steve Smith while they were walking past. Additionally, the abuse towards the Australian team continued on the stairwell leading to their dressing room where additional members were standing, with Matt Renshaw seen on television cameras laughing and pointing towards members who were yelling at the team while they walked up the stairs. After the altercation, the Australian coaches notified the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), who are the custodians of the Lord's venue, that players had been "physically contacted" while walking through the Long Room and asked it to investigate, which the MCC accepted immediately.
Khawaja stated that "disrespectful" language had been directed at him while walking through the room, and that the member's behaviour was "really disappointing." Khawaja stated that his feelings on the Lord's ground had been tainted, stating it was usually one of his "favourite" grounds to attend and play at and the members were usually appreciative of their opposition, their usual appreciative nature was not present after the dismissal. When the documentary The Test was released in May 2024, Australian batsman Marcus Harris was seen being critical of the hypocrisy of the MCC members in the Long Room for being upset over rules, despite being the custodians of the rules of cricket, and was seen exclaiming, "You write the laws you (expletive) idiots." Former England captain David Gower heavily criticised the members for their behaviour, criticising them for threatening Khawaja, despite his reputation for being friendly amongst the cricket community and having no involvement in the dismissal. Gower also criticised the "pack mentality" that had developed from the hostile environment the dismissal had generated.
Later that evening, MCC chief executive Guy Lavender announced that three members involved in the altercation had their memberships suspended and would not be allowed to return to the ground until the investigation into the altercation with Khawaja concluded. The MCC had also issued an apology to Cricket Australia for the incident, took responsibility for the altercation and condemned the behaviour of the members involved. The MCC had also apologised privately to the Australian team before the press conference and was also disgusted at the way their members had behaved, as confirmed by Australian captain Pat Cummins. Cummins stated that he wouldn't be surprised if the MCC stripped the memberships of the members involved with the altercation, with Cummins describing their behaviour as "quite aggressive and abusive."
Five days after the confrontation, MCC chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown released a statement revealing that after having viewed the security camera footage, the behaviour of the members "bought shame on (the) MCC." It was announced that the roped area that the players walk through would be expanded to prevent members from blocking players from accessing the dressing rooms. Additionally, members were no longer allowed to stand on the staircase leading to the dressing rooms, and people were no longer allowed to use phone cameras in the area. Carnegie-Brown also put out a plea for any other evidence or information from other witnesses to come forward. Three members were ultimately charged, with one member banned for life, another banned for four-and-a-half years, and another banned for two-and-a-half years.
English reaction
When England captain Ben Stokes was asked about his viewpoint on the dismissal, he replied, "I am not disputing the fact it is out because it is out. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no." Stokes also said that if he were in the position that the Australian team were in, he would have withdrawn the appeal, thereby rendering the wicket void. When asked about whether the stumping controversy would impact the relationships between the two teams, England coach Brendon McCullum replied, "I can't imagine we'll be having a beer with them any time soon." McCullum said that the stumping had instead fired up the England team, and that the stumping would negatively affect the Australian team heading into the final three tests.
England bowler Stuart Broad, who was sent to bat at the crease after the stumping, said that he was in disbelief that no Australian player had challenged the decision to withdraw the appeal when he asked them about it during the match and all the Australian players had agreed with the decision. He believed that Australia would feel remorse in not withdrawing the appeal, citing that it could have helped rehabilitate their image after Sandpapergate in 2018, along with their recent efforts to change their team culture in its aftermath. Broad added that he personally felt no ill will towards Australian captain Pat Cummins and believed that Cummins might eventually regret not calling Bairstow back to the crease.