Ben Stokes responds to ‘crybaby’ label, says England set to come back to win Ashes 3-2

English captain Ben Stokes has made a rare move to respond to an Australian newspaper after taking issue with one detail.

Ben Stokes and Pat Cummins at Lord's Cricket Ground on July 2. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

If the boot fits.

Ben Stokes has made a rare move to respond to labels of being a “crybaby” and a “whinging, moaning Pom” from Australian papers after Australia’s controversial win at Lord’s in the Second Ashes Test.

Alex Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow — where the English keeper wandered out of his crease on the wild, final day at Lord’s — has caused cricket’s most iconic rivalry to explode.

The international war of words has centred around the vaunted “Spirit of Cricket” debate, with the sportsmanship of both countries coming into question in the ugly fallout.

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The avalanche of examples of the England team’s hypocrisy surrounding its condemnation of the Aussie team’s ethics has been damning in recent days — and it seems Australia is not going to let England get away with its posturing to claim the moral high ground.

The front page of Seven West’s Perth daily, The West Australian, depicted Stokes in a baby’s nappy and with a pacifier, alongside a Dukes ball and the headline “CRYBABIES” for its July 4 edition.

Stokes responded in jest on Twitter to the front page.

Ben Stokes is at it again. Photo: Supplied, Getty.

“That’s definitely not me,” he said.

“Since when did I bowl with the new ball?”

It is the first time Stokes has posted about the English men’s team since the series started.

News Corp’s Melbourne masthead, The Herald Sun wrote “BAZBAWL”, while the Sydney equivalent, The Daily Telegraph, said “WE’RE 2 UP, BABY!”

The Daily Tele was at its provocative best when branding England’s chief antagonists “Blundering Bairstow”, “Babbling Brendon McCullum”, “Sooky Stuart Broad” and “Sour Stokes”.

Stokes after the eventual 43-run defeat had little to say in defence of Bairstow, who had unsuccessfully attempted the very same style of dismissal earlier in the match, but said if he was in captain Pat Cummins’ shoes, he would have withdrawn the appeal.

“The things I had to consider out there was the fact it was the last ball of the over and I questioned the umpires as to whether they had called over,” Stokes said.

“Both umpires were making the gesture walking towards their opposite position. Jonny was in his crease, then left his crease to come out and have the conversation between overs like every batsman does.

The front page of The Daily Telegraph on July 4 2023.

The front page of the Herald Sun for Tuesday July 4 2023.

“If I was fielding captain at the time, I would have put a lot more pressure on the umpires to ask them what their decision was around the ‘over’. Then I would have had a real think about the spirit of the game, and would I want to potentially win a game with something like that happening … it would be no.”

Cummins defended the dismissal as fair and within the Laws of the game, and insisted there was no deceit or trickery involved.

“You see Jonny do it all the time,” Cummins said in the post-match press conference.

“He did it [on] day one to David Warner. He did it to Steve [Smith] in 2019. It’s a really common things for keepers to do if they see a batter keep leaving the crease.

“Kez [Carey], full credit to him, saw the opportunity. I think he [Bairstow] did it [left his crease] a few balls beforehand. He [Carey] rolled it at the stumps, Jonny left his crease, you leave the rest to the umpires.”

It comes as Stokes insists England are well placed to do what no England team has done before, and bounce back from a 2-0 deficit to win the series.

The only side in history to win a five-match series after being 2-0 down are Don Bradman’s Australians during the 1936-37 Ashes, losing by huge margins in Brisbane and Sydney only to win the next three Tests in Melbourne and Adelaide, led by legendary names alongside Bradman such as Stan McCabe, Chuck Fleetwood-Smith, Bill O’Reilly and Jack Fingleton.

“It‘s actually very exciting to know that the way in which we are playing our cricket couldn’t be more perfect for the situation we find ourselves in,” Stokes said.

England captain Ben Stokes and Pat Cummins of Australia. Awkward. Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images.

“We have to win these three games to get this urn back.

“We‘re a team who are obviously willing to put ourselves out there and do things against the narrative.

“We won 3-0 against New Zealand, we won 3-0 against Pakistan in Pakistan. We’ve won three games in a row twice, all we’re thinking about is winning the series 3-2.

“Now, these three games are a better opportunity for us than we’ve ever found ourselves in before.”

Stokes said he was unbothered about the prospect of a loss at Headingley giving the Australians their first away Ashes victory since 2001, backing his batters and their approach.

“I’ve got no issues about the way our bowlers went about it or how our batters went about it,” Stokes said.

“It‘s just … whether our execution (can) get better next time we’re in that situation.”