London: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has backed England captain Ben Stokes, who said he would have withdrawn the stumping appeal against Bairstow.

Ben Stokes, the captain of England, expressed his displeasure at the contentious stumping of Jonny Bairstow by Alex Carey just before lunch on the final day of the second Test following the 43-run loss at Lord's that allowed Australia to surge to a 2-0 lead, their best-ever margin early in an Ashes contest away from home in over 22 years. Stokes claimed that if he had been Australia captain Pat Cummins, he would have never desired to win in that manner. Despite the event dividing the world of cricket, Stokes has earned support from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

"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. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no," Stokes had said in an interview.

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When Carey threw the ball at the stumps and dislodged the bails, Bairstow had already left the crease after dodging a short ball from Cameron Green. Bairstow was left speechless, and the unfriendly atmosphere for the Australian team was sustained by the loud booing from the enraged English spectators.

Even though the dismissal was perfectly legal under cricket's rules, Sunak has charged Australia with disrespecting the sport by raising questions about Bairstow's dismissal.

When asked on Monday if the British PM thought Australia's behaviour was against the rules of the game, his spokesman responded, "Yes."

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"The prime minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn't want to win a game in the manner Australia did," the spokesman added.

The five-match series was thought to be the real test for Bazball, but the defending World Test Championship champions have put an end to talk about England's Test cricket revolution after taking an early 2-0 lead. They now head to the third Test at Headingley with the goal of winning the series and keeping the Ashes urn. Sunak, though, thinks that the outcome will ultimately be different.

“But 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 (in the Third Test),” the spokesman said.

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