- Thursday, February 27, 2025
In a video shared by Albanese on Twitter, he and Sunak poked fun at each other as they conversed about the Ashes which Australia are leading 2-1 at the moment.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THEY spoke over the issue a few days ago after England wicket-keeper-batter Jonny Bairstow found himself involved in a controversial runout in the second Test of the ongoing Ashes at Lord’s. On Tuesday (11), the matter came up again as British prime minister Rishi Sunak met his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese at Vilnius in Lithuania for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit. The duo decided to take on each other over the controversy albeit in a lighthearted crosstalk.
In a video shared by Albanese on Twitter, he and Sunak poked fun at each other as they conversed about the Ashes which Australia are leading 2-1 at the moment after England won the third Test at Leeds by three wickets.
“I caught up with Prime Minister @RishiSunak to discuss progress with AUKUS, technology transfer, and economic challenges, as well as the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement,” he said in the tweet that also featured a picture of the duo and a video of the funny conversation.
I caught up with Prime Minister @RishiSunak to discuss progress with AUKUS, technology transfer and economic challenges, as well as the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement. pic.twitter.com/5FAAsWGMYL
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 11, 2023
“And of course, we discussed the #Ashes.”
And of course we discussed the #Ashes pic.twitter.com/FeKESkb062
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 11, 2023
Albanese was seen carrying a paper mentioning 2-1, signifying his country’s lead in the series. Sunak pulled out a picture in turn showing England’s winning moment in the Leeds Test. Albanese then displayed a picture of the infamous dismissal of Bairstow at Lord’s.
Sunak then said, “I am sorry, I didn’t bring my sandpaper with me” and the two leaders broke in laughter.
“Sandpaper” refers to the 2018 ball-tampering scandal surrounding the Australian cricket team during a Test match in South Africa that led to a major turmoil in the island-nation’s cricket.
The British premier, who was at the iconic venue on the day, was not reportedly pleased with the way Bairstow got dismissed and Australia ended up winning the match despite a valiant century from captain Ben Stokes.
“Simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did. The prime minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did,” the PM’s spokesperson had said.
Downing Street, however, played down the chances of Sunak raising the matter with Albanese and that the focus will remain on core areas.
Sunak, however, praised the ‘swift action’ of the Marylebone Cricket Club against members who allegedly abused the Australian team verbally after the win.
Albanese, on the other hand, tweeted after the match, “I’m proud of our men’s and women’s cricket teams, who have both won their opening two #Ashes matches against England. Same old Aussies – always winning! Australia is right behind @ahealy77, @patcummins30, and their teams and look forward to welcoming them home victorious.”
In the women’s Ashes, Australia won the only Test by 89 runs and the first T20 by four wickets. England, however, won the remaining two T20s to clinch the series. The three-match one-day international series was starting Wednesday (12).
