Ashes 2023: We Don't Apportion Blame To Conditions Or Opposition: Pat Cummins Hits Back At England Over Jonny Bairstow's Dismissal Controversy

Hitting back at England, Australia skipper Pat Cummins has advised Ben Stokes & Co. to focus on themselves and their own performances instead of talking about the spirit of cricket as the fallout between the two teams continues in the wake of Jonny Bairstow’s stumping.

Bairstow’s dismissal in the second Ashes Test has created a rift between the two sides. The England star was stumped by Alex Carey upon leaving the crease believing that the ball was dead. With Australia not withdrawing the appeal, they have faced severe criticism from the English cricket fraternity.

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Pat Cummins has been singled out for more criticism, with the critics saying that the Australia skipper should have given importance to the spirit of cricket and withdrawn the appeal. Following the game, England head coach Brendon McCullum slammed Australia while saying that England players are unlikely to share a beer with the Australian team any time soon.

The Prime Ministers of both countries have also got involved. While British PM Rishi Sunak slammed Australia for their conduct, his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese has thrown his support behind his country’s cricket team.

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Pat Cummins hits back:

Ahead of the third Test in Headingley where Australia is likely to face a hostile crowd, Pat Cummins has not minced his words as he made his stance clear on the entire episode. The fast bowler stated that a lot of importance is being given to the incident.

“For what I think is a pretty common non-event, it does seem like everyone has a pretty strong opinion about it,” Cummins said. “I don’t think there’s any discussion; it’s out. If the shoe was on the other foot, I wouldn’t be looking at the opposition, I’d probably be thinking [about] our own batter, and would be thinking it’s pretty silly.”

Speaking further, he took a dig at England by hinting that the hosts have been blaming the conditions and the opposition instead of trying to sort their issues out.

“I know what our team does, and that’s [why] we concentrate on ourselves,” he said. “When we haven’t been playing up to scratch, we look pretty deeply at what we are doing, and try to make amends. We don’t apportion blame to conditions or opposition or anything else going on.

“I’m really proud of how our boys have conducted themselves [on] this tour, especially on that day five. [I] thought the way they maintained respect for the opposition, the umpires [and] the crowd, their dignity was first-class,” he added.

Meanwhile, Australia are leading the five-match series 2-0. A positive result in the upcoming third Test will be enough for them to retain the Ashes. The Pat Cummins-led side is also on the verge of powering Australia to their first Ashes series win in England since 2001.

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