Pat Cummins in savage reply after Jonny Bairstow dismissal furore

Australian captain Pat Cummins has delivered a savage one-word response to the Jonny Bairstow furore after Australia took a huge 2-0 lead in the Ashes. England looked to have turned the tide on day 5 after some brilliant Ben Stokes batting, which saw them edge the required runs below 80 with four wickets in hand.

However, the dismissal of the England captain saw a swift end to England's fightback and hand Australia a pivotal 2-0 lead in the series. While Australia were rejoicing, England were left absolutely fuming with vitriol swirling around Lord's Cricket Ground.

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Before lunch, Aussie wicket-keeper Alex Carey took the wicket of Bairstow when he immediately threw the ball at the stumps in an attempt to run out the batter. Bairstow wasn't paying attention to where the ball was and presumed it was dead, which saw him leave his crease.

And because Carey reacted immediately without hesitation, Bairstow was caught out of his crease and run out. England fans erupted with the chant 'same old Aussies, always cheating' ringing around the stadium.

In horrible scenes, the Aussies were met with vitriol in the prestigious Long Room at Lord's with Usman Khawaja calling out a fan. The tension was frosty around the ground with all eyes on the handshake. After the match, Stokes was interviewed and the captain claimed he would have withdrawn his appeal if he was in Australia's position.

When this was put to Cummins on BBC Sport, the Aussie captain didn't entertain the idea after a brutal slap down of the English backlash. "OK," he said. In a separate interview after match, Cummins said the dismissal was legitimate.

"I think Carey saw it happen a few balls previously. There was no pause. Catch it and throw it at the stumps. I thought it was totally fair play," Cummins said.

"That's how the rule is. Some people might disagree, just like the catch yesterday, the rule is there."

Ben Stokes hits back at Jonny Bairstow wicket

At the time, England players were left in shock with captain Ben Stokes talking to the Australian players in disbelief as the umpires reviewed the footage. After the match, Stokes claimed he wouldn't have wanted to win a test match in that manner.

"Jonny was in his crease and left his crease to come out and have the conversation, in between overs, like every batsman does," Stokes said in his post-match press conference. "If I was the fielding captain at the time, I would have put more pressure on the umpires to ask them what their decision was around the over.

"Then I would have had a think around the 'Spirit of the Game' and would I want to potentially win a game with something like that happening. And it would be no."

Regardless, England trail the series 2-0 and were largely outplayed for the majority of the five days at Lord's.

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