Bairstow Controversy: Spirit of the Game, or all out War.

I have some sympathy for Johnny Bairstow and the England team but, to be honest, Bairstow was a bit naive here. I have watched the video over and over and Carey receives the ball after Bairstow ducks under the short ball and immediately throws it at the stumps. There is no delay or attempted trickery. Bairstow had no right to assume at that stage the ball was dead. It wasn't, and the umpires were quite correct to give him out. He simply went walkabout at a crucial time in a test match and that let the Aussies back into the game. 

Is this in the "spirit of the game"? No, probably not, in the good old "that's not cricket" days, but the spirit of the game disappeared long ago. Was the body line series of 1932 in the spirit? Did Clive Lloyd's Windies side think about the spirit as they swept all before them with a mixture of hostility and in your face challenges? We have had under-arm bowling, Mankads and all manner of controversies over the last century of test cricket, so a seasoned campaigner like Bairstow should be more aware of his actions. Many will agree or disagree with the incident but if you need any indication that the spirit of cricket is long gone, look no further than that "bastion of fairness and upholder of everything cricket", Lords, and more pointedly, the MCC member pavilion, The Long Room. Their reaction to the incident was appalling. No matter how uncouth the visiting inmates from the penal colony down under were seen to be, never would The Long Room have reacted the way it did yesterday. This lack of stoic silence or polite applause we are used to from The Long Room patrons clearly points to the game having moved on from being "the game of cricket".  With all the above simmering in the English camp and Australia still feeling a bit aggrieved about the Starc catch controversy, I cannot wait for the 3rd test. It will be spicy, that's for sure.