Australian PM presents Rishi Sunak with photo of puzzled ash by Johnny Barstow

Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese exchange Dust memorabilia at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Photo: Simon Dawson/10 Downing Street

The Australian Prime Minister gave Rishi Sunak a photo of the controversial Ash Johnny Bairstow stumbling on the sidelines of a NATO summit.

The two men 'had a good banter on cricket' at the meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania. , where they joked about their countries' sporting rivalry.

Anthony Albanese gave Mr. Sunak a photo of the moment Bairstow was stumped after coming out of his crease during Ash's second test at Lord's. assuming the over is over. .

The incident provoked abuse of the Australian team by members of the Marylebone Cricket Club, resulting in three suspensions from the «house of cricket».

Mr. Sunak reciprocated with a photo of Mark Wood and Chris Wookes hugging after winning. third ash test at Headingley on Sunday.

And of course we discussed #Ash pic.twitter.com/FeKESkb062

— Anthony Albanese (@ AlboMP) Jul 11, 2023

Mr Albanese raised a sign with the inscription «2-1» — the current account between England and Australia.

Despite Mr. Sunak's anger at the stalemate, a UK government source insisted: «It was very friendly, a lot of good cricket banter — really very, very friendly.»

The source insisted that none of men did not know another. brought the photo to taunt the other, though they are known to have been texting about Dust in recent days.

Speaking just after the deadlock that prompted calls for an apology, Mr. Sunak's spokesman said he told him didn't like the way the Australians played.

«The PM agrees with Ben Stokes — he just didn't want to win the game the way Australia did,» his spokesman said.< /p>< Asked on Tuesday whether the prime minister intended to draw political inspiration from England's return to the Ashes, a source replied: "If you have the faith, the right team and the right tactics, you can do anything."

Australia, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand are not members of NATO, but were invited to the summit as partners in the Indo-Pacific region.