Piers Morgan says Shane Warne would’ve hated Alex Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow in Ashes Test

Piers Morgan has dragged Shane Warne into the Ashes stumping controversy, insisting the cricket icon would’ve been left seriously unimpressed by Alex Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow. 

The pair were close mates before Warne’s tragic death last year, and the outspoken English media personality believes the spin king would have labelled one of the most explosive incidents in Ashes history ‘pretty ordinary’.

Morgan also compared the dismissal during the final day of Australia’s heart-stopping 41-run win at Lord’s to what is widely known as the most controversial play in cricket history: the infamous underarm ball. 

Labelling ex-Aussie allrounder Trevor Chappell one of the ‘most reviled people to ever play sport’, Morgan said in an article for The Sun that the moment he rolled the ball down to pitch to beat New Zealand on the last ball of an ODI in 1981 reminded him of Carey’s legal stumping of Bairstow. 

While admitting it was ‘perfectly within the laws of cricket’, Morgan insisted it was against the spirit of the game – something that he believes Warne would have hated.  

Piers Morgan (left) believes his great mate, the late Shane Warne (right) would not have approved of his compatriots’ actions during Alex Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow

Bairstow (right) argues with Aussie star Travis Head (centre) after he was dismissed on the final day of Australia’s victory in the second Test

‘My late, great Aussie friend Shane Warne, who played his cricket hard but fair, had a phrase for this kind of sharp practice. He’d have called it ‘pretty ordinary,’ Morgan said.

‘And for Warnie, there was nothing worse in the world than for sportsmen to show ‘pretty ordinary’ bad sportsmanship. He’s right – there isn’t. It’s even worse than losing.’

In the wake of the ball-tampering scandal that rocked Aussie cricket in 2018, Warne talked about not wanting the under-fire side to be a completely friendly, unintimidating team – but insisted ‘sportsmanship’ mattered above all else.

‘I want us to play hard but fair, tough, uncompromising cricket, but shake hands and play in the spirit of the game and show good sportsmanship,’ he said at the time.

Despite that, it’s impossible to know what Warne would have said about the controversial moment

England skipper Ben Stokes, while admitting Bairstow was out, said it would not be how he would like to win a Test.

‘I am not disputing the fact it is out because it is out,’ he said after the match. 

‘(But) If the shoe was on the other foot, I would have put more pressure on the umpires and asked whether they had called over and had a deep think about the whole spirit of the game and whether I would want to do something like that.

‘For Australia, it was the match-winning moment. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer is no.’

Alex Carey (left) appeals to the umpire after hitting the stumps, leaving Jonny Bairstow (right) incredulous

The two skippers cannot agree on whether Carey’s stumping was even against the spirit of cricket in the first place. Ben Stokes (left) says he wouldn’t like to win like that, while Pat Cummins (right) said Bairstow had done it himself and was comfortable with how Australia play their cricket

But Aussie skipper Pat Cummins was unapologetic after game, saying he had seen Bairstow do the very same thing as a wicketkeeper and was comfortable it was within the spirit of cricket.

‘I thought it was fair. You see Jonny do it all the time. He did it on Day One to (David) Warner. He did it in 2019 to Steve (Smith). It’s a really common thing for keepers to do if they see a batter keep on leaving their crease,’ he said.

‘Caz (Carey) – full credit to him. He saw the opportunity a few balls beforehand and rolled at the stumps. Jonny left his crease and we’ll leave the rest to the umpires,’ Cummins added.

‘We’ve all played a lot of cricket. The spirit of cricket is really important.

‘The way we’ve gone about it over the last couple of years has been fantastic. We should be really proud as a group.’

Morgan admitted that defining the spirit of cricket is often tough, though he was firmly of the opinion Carey’s stumping did not fit within his ideals of sportsmanship.

Warne (second from left) plays golf with close mate Piers Morgan (centre) and English cricket greats Kevin Pietersen (L) and Michael Vaughan (second from right)

Would Warne have approved of Carey’s stumping to dismiss Bairstow? Morgan doesn’t think so

‘It’s hard to define exactly what constitutes ‘the spirit of the game’ but most sports fans know when they see it abused,’ he said.

‘But the Aussies did go against the spirit of the game, and in the process, did a massive disservice to themselves, their country, and their sport.’ 

The outspoken media personality said he made ‘no apology for those idiots screaming cheats at the Aussies‘, though he did condemn the ‘disgracefully abusive’ behaviour of some MCC members in the Long Room.