Ben Stokes is unlikely to be reprimanded for Ashes feud with Labuschagne

It was difficult to determine whether it was a message to Australia or to its own bowlers. Ben Stokes ended a frustrating second night in Sydney by exchanging words with Marnus Labuschagne in the middle. Seemingly responding to something Labuschagne said as the hosts gave a quick reply to England’s 384, Stokes was heard saying “shut the hell up” at the end of the over he had just bowled. He then walked over and put an arm around his opponent’s shoulder to continue the exchange.

As the referees, Ahsan Raza and Chris Gaffaney, walked in, Stokes walked away after pinch-hitting Labuschagne. According to the ICC code of conduct, the England captain could be reprimanded under clause 2.12 regarding “inappropriate physical contact”.

It was fairly trivial, much like India’s Akash Deep putting an arm around Ben Duckett after sacking him at Edgbaston in August. That incident led to no further action, with Jeff Crowe, the ICC match referee here, likely deciding the same.

Stokes had the final say in his support by dismissing Labuschagne for 48, but Australia closed at 166 for two. Travis Head’s unbeaten 91 had come against England’s wayward bowlers in the final session, while Stokes, two for 30, got things back on his own.

“I want the gossip too,” said Joe Root, when asked about the incident, the impact of his response washed away by Head’s quick response.

Michael Neser, hit on the arm by Stokes with the last ball of the day, said: “[Labuschagne] has a talent… he is such a strong competitor and can get under your skin. It’s just Marnus for you.’

Stokes’ outburst wasn’t the only thing Root was asked about; Jamie Smith’s much-publicised dismissal by Labuschagne sparked England’s five-for-61 collapse.

Smith fell with the second new ball on the horizon and made a long jump from Labuschagne’s part-time medium pace to deep extra cover, former Australia head coach Justin Langer called it “one of the stupidest shots you will ever see in Test cricket”while Alastair Cook simply called it ‘terrible’.

Root said: “It was about maximizing that ten-over period before we faced that new ball. Twenty runs could be the difference later. So there was a method behind what we were trying to do.”

“We’re constantly trying to move the game forward. And if it doesn’t work out, it might look a certain way. But you never play to get out. You play to score points.”

“As a batsman, your job is not to survive, but to score runs. You can’t win games just by surviving. You have to score more runs than the opponent.”

Root had been exemplary, scoring his 41st Test century and 24th since the start of 2021 – the last 14 more than the next best in this period – and moving within 2,000 runs of Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record of 15,921 in Test cricket and showing no loss of appetite.

Asked if he could see himself making the next Ashes tour in 2029-30 at the age of 35, Root said: “Who knows? We’ll see. I’d love to. But we’ll see how things develop over time.”