‘Not very creative’ – England’s Barmy Army lodge complaint over Australian Ashes ad

England’s Barmy Army have lodged a complaint over Cricket Australia’s Ashes advert.

The ad features Jonny Bairstow’s controversial stumping in the 2023 series, where the England wicket-keeper left his crease in the apparent belief the ball was dead.

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Australia went on to win the Test at Lord’s by 43 runs, while the series itself was drawn 2-2.

And the moment has been used in an advert by Cricket Australia to promote the Boxing Day Test later this month.

In the 15-second advert, wicket-keeper Alex Carey states ‘it’s the chaos’ before footage of Bairstow’s stumping two years ago is shown.

It was Carey who controversially threw the ball at the stumps at Lord’s that dismissed Bairstow.

The advert is part of the ‘You need to see it’ promotion that highlights some of the memorable moments from the 2023 series.

However, a senior member of England’s ‘Barmy Army’ has taken umbrage about spotlighting the incident.

Tony Emmerson, who runs the Melbourne and Sydney groups of the ‘Barmy Army’, stated: “I just think it’s not very creative.

“I’m sure they could’ve come up with something a little bit more creative or thought-provoking.

“It goes to the creativity the Australians put into writing their songs – “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!'”

Emmerson went on to suggest an alternative, feeling that CA use Stuart Broad’s final moments in the advert to promote the Boxing Day Test.

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“That’s true Ashes cricket. We know how much the Australians love Stuart Broad,” Emmerson added.

However, Cricket Australia countered back, stating that they have been ‘really pleased’ about the response to the advert.

“The advertisement, which has run on various platforms for three months, includes, in a respectful manner, a dramatic and oft-replayed moment that exemplifies the heightened intensity of the Ashes rivalry,” a Cricket Australia spokesperson said.

“We’re really pleased with the response to our Ashes marketing campaign, which has contributed strongly to the enormous crowds and viewing audiences for the series so far.”

Emmerson added that he actually agreed with Bairstow’s dismissal, though was an incident that caused uproar in England.

Pat Cummins said the dismissal was fair, though Ben Stokes stated that, while he agreed Bairstow was rightly given out, he would not have wanted to win the game ‘in that manner’.

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Then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak weighed in on the decision, and agreed with Stokes’ comments.

When asked whether he believed Australia’s action were not in keeping with the spirit of the game, a spokesman for Sunak said: “Yes. The prime minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did.”

Australia hold a 2-0 lead in the 2025 Ashes series having eased to victory over England in Perth and Brisbane.

The third Test starts on Monday in Adelaide, before the traditional Boxing Day test in Melbourne. The five-test series then culminates in Sydney next month.