FWLIW I think Murali was out, Green’s catch of Kholi in TWC was out. Starc’s catch of Root was not out and Bairstow was not out.
But I’m not standing behind the stumps wearing a white coat in a Test match, nor do I have access to DRS.
I think Bairstow was legitimately out - Carey did not pause, there was no suggestion he thought the ball wasn’t live - but that sort of ‘burgle’ of a wicket didn’t sit well with me. Still, sport hurts.
Starc’s catch wasn’t out, he didn’t have control of himself and he grassed the ball to give himself control.
I think this is a critical point - he tried on Labuschagne this series, apparently - so it may not be a coincidence that it’s him who got this treatment.
But this shouldn’t be allowed to overshadow what was an exciting match (whole sessions of ducked bouncers excepted) - two teams playing well, taking risks, trying new strategies and culminating in Stokes hitting 155 in a doomed effort.
Even better, only one team has ever come back from 2-0 down in the Ashes, so when England do it over the next three matches it’ll be an historic victory. 
Don’t forget Stokes hitting the ball to a boundary rider and not taking the runs a lot.
Day3 this match, actually.
He got “this treatment” because he has a tendency to go walkabout.
Just like his keeping failures because it’s been observed that his concentration wanders.
This “Aussie, Aussie, Ausie, Cheat, Cheat, Cheat” doesn’t faze me but it’s a mirage.
It’s the cult of Bazball. It’s almost Trumpian.
It’s mantra seems to be:
Broad to Carey: “This is what you’ll be remembered for.”
You’ve simply gotta recognise, verily appreciate, the man’s expertise in these matters, even if it’s a night cart of ordure dressed up as irony.
What beats Bazball is plain old sensible cricket. Because the game has too much time to have the pedal to the metal from the gun. Sometimes you swing the bat, sometimes you stonewall.
Bazball is Stokes’ magnificent 150 precisely when and how it was needed.
Bazball is not a sustained short pitched bowling strategy on a dead deck 'cause you can’t do that in a T20 … but that might be the best strategy in a Test.
Broad’s performance - I use the word advisedly - was in its own way magnificent. “This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen in cricket”, the exaggerated way he ensured he was in his ground at the end of overs… as you say, he of all people cannot credibly wrap himself in the cloak of the noble spirit of our sacred game, but it was a lovely bit of theatre.
What Bazball means is pretty clear when it comes to batting. But I don’t think the bowling angle has been quite worked out yet. Funky umbrella fields asides, there’s been a lot of negative stuff - the entertaining and aggressive option is 5 slips and a gully to a fast bowler* and we haven’t had that, in large part because we lack the fast bowlers to do it.
But even with the batting - over two innings, if 5 batters had scored 9 more runs each, we’d have won.
*When Australia played Pakistan at Lords, this is how Pakistan set up to Ponting, with some 18-year-old called Amir running in. And deservedly so, because Amir had the ball going round the corners and Ponting had no clue where it would end up. That was entertaining!
I also enjoyed Broad’s comment picked up by the stump mike when Stokes battered it straight at Cummins, who dropped it - “do you think that’s out?”. Hopefully, as Vaughan said (and I don’t often agree with him) it will fire England up for the rest of the series. But as already stated, they also need to be a bit smarter at times, with bat and ball.
I don’t blame Carey for chucking the ball in, or perhaps for appealing. But if both teams saw a replay on the big screen before it was given out, I think that was the time for Cummins to withdraw the appeal. Does anyone know if that was the case? It’s not clear to me from the highlights videos. If it wasn’t, it’s perhaps more forgivable that he didn’t (they could have genuinely not realised that Bairstow clearly made his ground before leaving the crease again). But still, hard to give them the benefit of the doubt. “Cheating” is far too strong a word for it, but I think Cummins will now go down in Ashes history as a pariah on a par with Jardine. If that’s the way you want to win the Ashes, you can keep them. Still, careless from Bairstow not to make sure, and careless of England not to get closer on first innings scores, which was ultimately what cost them. Australia didn’t need that piece of tomfoolery to win the game, they dealt with tricky conditions well.
I missed the news that ambassadors had been summoned to defuse an international incident, threats were being made to cancel the tour or that there were guys in hospital with cracked skulls. My internet must be slow.
There’s still time for it to escalate, our PM has weighed in!
Sunak wasn’t one of those Lords members who got suspended, was he?
Nitpick: MCC members
“Shocking scenes at Lord’s, as Stephen Fry runs on to the pitch and uses his egg and bacon tie to garotte Cummins”
Back in the 70s there was (another) incident regarding ENG pace bowler John Snow.
There was a cartoon which showed a butler giving the Queen a copy of the sports pages and a cucumber sandwich. The caption read: “If you were to ask me M’am, these people have been nothing but trouble since our finest British judges selected them”. 
This is ridiculous, frankly. It’s a game, guys, let it go
Thanks, but just to be clear, I am not saying Cummins could/should have withdrawn the appeal at the end of the session or anything. I’m saying that if the replay was shown around the ground while the third umpire was deliberating, he could have done so then, having seen that Bairstow had clearly made his ground and then simply walked away for a chat. What I don’t know is whether the replay was in fact shown publicly at this time.
There can never be a better encapsulation of the phrase “it’s just not cricket”.
World Cup Qualifier update: Scotland were playing Zimbabwe in a must-win game for both teams. With WI imploding the second qualifying spot is wide open. For Zimbabwe, victory meant certain qualification; defeat certain disqualification. Scotland went in needing to beat both Zimbabwe and The Netherlands to qualify.
Zimbabwe sent Scotland in and bowled with ruthless economy, restricting Scotland to 235/8. In response, Scotland opened strongly, with Sole taking a wicket with the first ball of the innings and 3 in teh first 6 overs. Zimbabwe fought back, with Burl and Raza scoring quickly - Raza surviving a drop early on. Burl would go on to score 83, outlasting both Raza (34) and Madhevere (40) to get Zimbabwe to just 38 needed. But too many wickets had gone - Scotland cleaned up the tail in short order to win a tough match.
Heartbreaking for Zimbabwe, who were well on track for their first World Cup. Scotland will now play Netherlands - a Scotland win will see them through on points, a Netherlands win will see one of the two teams go ahead of Zimbabwe on net run rate.
Ultimately, this qualifier is a refutation of the 10-team World Cup format. Based on their performances, Scotland, Zimbabwe and the Netherlands all deserve to be at the WC, but that’s not how the blazers set it up, so only one of them can.
Bizarrely I thought at the start of this tournament that past champions WI and SL shouldn’t really have to play this to get in.
I’ve been proven very wrong indeed.
Just to check - so this means Scotland could (narrowly) lose but still progress, yes?
Yes, I said it was must win but I think there’s a small window where a narrow loss works.
Table is here for anyone who wants a mental workout