Prime whingers: Albo responds as British PM joins meltdown, Boycott demands apology, McCullum still sooking

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has accused Australia of breaching the spirit of cricket, adding to the national pile-on over the controversial Jonny Bairstow stumping.

Australia are bracing for more harsh treatment from crowds at Headingley this week, after their dramatic 43-run win at Lord’s gave them a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series.

England media on Monday laid the boot into Australia with several references to the word “cheat” on front and back pages, with images from within the Lord’s long room.

Both the Daily Express and Metro ran with the bodyline-themed “Just Not Cricket” headline, while London’s Telegraph labelled it an “underhand dismissal”.

(Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)

It comes after both England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum hit out at Australia in the dramatic postscript to Sunday’s dramatic finish, saying they would have withdrawn the appeal.

Sunak has now backed the pair’s claims, with a spokesperson for his office telling reporters in the UK that he was unhappy with Australia stumping Bairstow after he ducked a ball and wandered out of his crease. 

“The prime minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did,” a spokesman for Sunak’s office said.

“The game did provide an opportunity to see Ben Stokes at his best and it was an incredible Test match and he has confidence England will bounce back at Headingley.”

When asked whether Sunak believed Australia’s had not upheld the spirit of cricket, his spokesperson said: “Yes.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took to Twitter to back the Australians his British counterpart’s view was aired.

Australia have defended the stumping, adamant Bairstow himself has thrown the ball back at the wickets while wicketkeeping in the same Test.

They also believe a decision on whether the ball was dead at the end of the over is one for the umpires, and that there was no trickery involved.

Sunak’s views are at odds with several former players, with former England red and white-ball captains Andrew Strauss and Eoin Morgan among those defending Australia.

India star Ravichandran Ashwin has also backed Australia’s actions, having himself been involved in mankad controversies.

“The keeper would never have a dip at the stumps from that far out in a Test match unless he or his team have noticed a pattern of the batter leaving his crease after leaving a ball like Bairstow did,” Ashwin posted on social media.

“We must applaud the game smarts of the individual rather than skewing it towards unfair play or spirit of the game.”

But former Test cricketer Sir Geoffrey Boycott used his column in the Telegraph to call for Australia to apologise on Monday.

“Australia need to have a think about what they did and make a full public apology,” Boycott wrote.

“If you want to win at all costs then cricket should not be for you. We want people to play hard and fair but surely there are standards to uphold? 

“When batsmen are not trying to take an advantage then you should not follow the letter of the law. Apply some common sense.”

McCullum meanwhile warned Australia will regret their stumping of Bairstow, claiming it has galvanised his side to win the Ashes.

McCullum made headlines in the aftermath of the Lord’s Test, saying his team no longer wanted to socialise with Australia after the Bairstow incident.

Australia’s 43-run win at Lord’s has left England needing to pull off a miracle to regain the Ashes, having never come back from 2-0 down in a series in the team’s 146-year history.

And McCullum believes the anger over Alex Carey’s decision to stump Jonny Bairstow when he wandered out of his crease could spark that.

“I don’t know if it’s anger, but our unit is galvanised,” McCullum said.

“There are times as a coach where you’ve got to reduce emotion because it’s going to bubble over and you can make poor decisions, but there’s times when you allow emotion to go because it’s going to galvanise the unit.

“That’s what I felt this emotion did for the side. I looked around the group and the guys were a little upset. 

“If that helps us to win those key moments in the next Test, then I’m all for it. (Winning) 3-2 has a nice ring to it.”

McCullum also believed the incident would impact the spirit of the series, which had already ignited in the first Test at Edgbaston with Ollie Robinson’s send off of Usman Khawaja.

England’s antics after Birmingham – including claiming it felt like a win – are known to have raised eyebrows in Australia’s camp in the lead up to Lord’s.

It also hasn’t been lost on some that McCullum twice ran out opponents during his Test career who were celebrating milestones, including Muthiah Muralidaran.

Reminded of that after the Lord’s Test, the England coach reasoned that he was younger then and now regrets it.

“Obviously I’ve made an apology to Murali in my Cowdrey Lecture (in 2016),” the former New Zealand wicketkeeper said.

Brendon McCullum (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

“When I was a younger man I didn’t quite understand the significance of what the spirit of the game means to the game. 

“It’s what the defining point of the game is compared to others, and it’s only with the benefit of time and experience that we’re able to learn that and cherish it. 

“In time, we’ll see, but I get the feeling that it might have an effect on (Australia).

“Technically it was out, I just question that Jonny wasn’t looking to try and take a run. He felt as if the umpires had intimated that it was over and the evidence backs that up.”

England will wait on the fitness of Ollie Pope’s shoulder before deciding if he can play the Headingley Test on Thursday.

If he is out, Dan Lawrence will likely be the man to come in after the hosts opted against bring gloveman Ben Foakes into their squad.