Ashes 2023: Was Jonny Bairstow run-out against 'Spirit of Cricket'? UK PM Rishi Sunak responds

After the Lord's Ashes 2023 match, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday took a verbal swing at Australia's cricketers, but he refrained from turning the matter into a Bodyline-style diplomatic controversy. According to Sunak's representative, Jonny Bairstow's contentious dismissal was against the rules of the game. "The prime minister agrees with (England captain) Ben Stokes who said he simply wouldn't want to win a game in the manner that Australia did," the spokesman said.

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But Sunak, a devoted cricket fan who watched the match on Saturday from the Lord's pavilion with Prince William, also condemned the slurs hurled at the Australian team in the Long Room by Marylebone Cricket Club members.

"He thinks it was right that the MCC have taken swift action to suspend any members accused of poor behaviour," the spokesman said.

Sunak thought that the MCC members' standing ovation for Australia's wobbly spinner Nathan Lyon when he entered the batting order on Saturday was "much more in keeping with the spirit of the game."

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Sunak, however, has no intention of officially protesting England's "Bodyline" methods used in the 1932–33 Ashes Down Under with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Even if the two leaders have a "friendly rivalry" over sports, Sunak does not see cricket as a crucial diplomatic issue, the official said.

"The game did provide an opportunity to see Ben Stokes at his best and it was an incredible Test match -- he has confidence that England will bounce back at Headingley," he added, after Stokes hit a blazing 155.