‘Spirit of cricket cannot contradict the laws of the game’ - Scott Styris gives his take on Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal

The controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow just moments before lunch on Day 5 of the second Ashes Test has been subject of heavy debate. Many argued that the moment was against the 'spirit of the game' and that the Australian players should have withdrawn their appeal. On the other hand, many were of the opinion that it was valid under the rules and saw nothing wrong with the incident. 

The incident happened in the 52nd over of the second innings during England's chase of 371 runs. As Bairstow walked out of the crease after ducking a delivery of Cameron Green, Aussie stumper Alex Carey showed his presence of mind and threw the ball at the wickets as Bairstow was dismissed. 

The dismissal sparked some heavy controversy as many former and current stars took to social media to give their takes on the same. Former New Zealand cricketer Styris took to Twitter and stated that the spirit of the game cannot contradict the rules of the sport, and if that is sorted out, then there will be no problems. 

"The spirit of cricket cannot contradict the laws of the game. Sort that out and there won't be any problems," Styris tweeted. 

The spirit of cricket cannot contradict the laws of the game.
Sort that out and there won't be any problems

— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) July 2, 2023

Australia strengthen their grip on Ashes 2023

Coming off a historic World Test Championship final win against India recently, Australia kicked off their marquee series against England with back-to-back wins. After Pat Cummins’ brilliance with the bat in the first Test at Edgbaston, where Australia won the game by two wickets, the visitors followed up with an all-round performance in the second Test as well. 

Aiming to chase down 371 runs in the second innings, England failed to do so despite brilliant knocks by Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes as Australia’s bowling attack proved too much to handle for them. As a result, the visitors won the game by 43 runs. The third match of the series commences at Headingley in Leeds from June 6.