Anyone with even the most casual interest in cricket will by now be well-versed in the debate over the “spirit of the game”. Alex Carey’s stumping of Johnny Bairstow on the final day of the second Ashes test sparked outrage, condemnation and ugly scenes in the Long Room at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Plenty of commentators, former players and even prime ministers have had their say on whether Carey’s actions, while certainly within the laws of the game, were in accord with the more nebulous “spirit of cricket”. Precedents have been cited, some going as far back as WG Grace in 1882, who effected a similar dismissal in the very game that gave The Ashes their name.
