LAWRENCE BOOTH COMMENT: Alex Carey made use of a wicket-taking opportunity to stump Jonny Bairstow

My first instinct when Alex Carey threw down the stumps was to wonder why Jonny Bairstow would risk leaving his crease before the umpires decided the ball was dead.

Watch Ben Stokes: he regularly keeps his bat behind the line while he checks with the fielding side that he’s OK to leave his crease. Why? Because he’s damned if he’s going to give his opponents a sniff of a cheap wicket.

I’ve never had much time for the idea that cricket has a spirit, which only seems to apply when there’s not much at stake. Whether we like it or not, cricket has laws, and they’re for the umpires to apply. 

The only question in the mind of Marais Erasmus, the third official, was whether the ball was dead when Carey released it. Unfortunately for England, it wasn’t. Had Carey paused for a couple of seconds, it would have been a different matter.

Alex Carey made use of a wicket-taking opportunity to stump Jonny Bairstow

It wasn’t wise for him to provoke Ben Stokes, but Carey was operating within the law

Was it sharp practice? Yes, a little. And let’s be honest: things would get tedious if the wicketkeeper underarmed the ball at the stumps after every delivery on the off-chance the batsman had gone walkabouts. But, as Sky showed, Carey had noticed that Bairstow was leaving his crease early. For him, it was a wicket-taking opportunity.

It was a crucial stage of a crucial Test, and the Ashes were on the line. You may disapprove of what Carey did, but you can’t argue he was operating outside the laws. Whether it was wise to provoke Ben Stokes is another matter entirely.

England players were left furious but Carey had noticed that Bairstow left his crease early