When informed that Ben Stokes would have withdrawn the appeal, Pat Cummins responded with a one-word terse statement

On the fifth day of the second Test at Lord’s, England captain Ben Stokes said that he would have dropped the contentious appeal against Jonny Bairstow.

After ducking beneath a short delivery from Cameron Green, Bairstow left his crease, thinking the ball was out. The audience booed the Australian sides for the rest of the morning session after wicketkeeper Alex Carey struck the target to stump his English opponent.

Stokes claims he would have dropped the appeal, the presenter of BBC’s Test Match Special informed Australia captain Pat Cummins.

Cummins responded in a single, direct sentence.

“OK.”

“(It was) fair play,” she concluded. The regulations are as stated. That is how I perceived it.

After the issue, when asked whether there was animosity between the two rival teams, Cummins said, “Not from our team, you may have to ask them. It was a fantastic competition, and the Ashes series overall has been fantastic.

Cummins justified the call at the post-game awards event by saying Carey had seen Bairstow repeatedly leave the crease with the ball seeming to be in play.

“I believe Carey seen it happen three or four balls earlier, and there was no delay before catching it and throwing it straight towards the stumps. I considered that to be entirely fair play. That is the way the law is. There may be some who disagree. Cummins said to Sky TV, “That’s how I saw it.

When Cummins was questioned about the event afterwards, he praised Carey for being on the ball.

“You always see Jonny doing that. On the first day, he did it to Davey Warner. In 2019, he did it to Steve (Smith). If a batter is seen repeatedly leaving the crease, keepers often take this action. Thus, Kez [Carey] deserves all the credit. He realized the chance. I believe Jonny has already done it a few times. At the stumps, I rolled it. Jonny abandoned his crease. You defer to the umpires for the rest, Cummins added.