Piers Morgan wades in on Ashes ‘outrage’ after divisive Australia win: ‘Beyond defending’

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Piers Morgan is expressing his fury over the divisive Ashes debacle that has led to criticism of the Australian cricket team.

Australia’s victory in the second Ashes Test on Sunday (3 July) has been mired in controversy due to the manner in which they won.

Cricket fans were left infuriated after Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey threw down the stumps at Lord’s after Jonny Bairstow left his crease and began to walk down the pitch to talk with England captain Ben Stokes. Bairstow was dismissed as a result.

Broadcaster Morgan was hoping to discuss the controversy on his TalkTV series Uncensored on Monday (3 July), but claims he was unable to find anyone from Australia to talk about it.

“We can’t get a single Australian cricketer or journalist to come on @PiersUncensored to defend yesterday’s outrage,” he wrote.

“Any takers? Or should I assume you’ve all realised it’s beyond defending?”

After Stokes questioned Australia’s tactics, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did.”

This caused the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to say he is “proud” of his country’s cricket team.

It was reported that, in the Long Room at Lord’s, Australian players Usman Khawaja and David Warner were involved in heated exchanges with jeering members over the controversy – three of whom were later suspended by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

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The third Test of the men’s series will take place in Leeds on Thursday (6 July), with England hoping to halve the deficit against their rivals.

Last week, Morgan appeared to sarcastically praise Meghan Markle while accepting the award for Interview of the Year at the 2023 Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) Awards.

On Tuesday 27 June, he was given the trophy for his exclusive interview with football star Cristiano Ronaldo, during a ceremony held at London’s Grosvenor House.

In his acceptance speech, Morgan referred to his long-standing feud with the Duchess of Sussex and credited her with his success. “I want to thank Meghan Markle because, if you think about it, without her contribution to my career I would never have gone to TalkTV,” the journalist said. “I would never have been standing here with this award.”