Earlier this month, Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal in the second Ashes Test between England and Australia at Lord’s hogged the headlines.

During the final day’s play, the England batter ducked a short delivery from Cameron Green and almost instantly left his crease assuming that the ball was dead.

However, Alex Carey was alert behind the wickets as the Australian glovesman collected the ball and hit the stumps in one go to catch Bairstow well outside his crease.

The dismissal triggered the Spirit of Cricket debate all over again. Amid the outrage, former Australia skipper has slammed the match officials and administrators for their failure to explain and enforce controversial laws.

Chappell opined that Bairstow failed to respect his wicket and also hit out at the crowd for their ‘despicable’ behaviour.

Notably, the crowd accused Carey of cheating while some Australian players were abused in the Long Room by Marylebone Cricket Club members.

“There have been a number of controversies, headed by Bairstow’s second-innings dismissal at Lord’s," Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo.

“Bairstow was out and his thoughtlessness was the result of an abject failure to respect his wicket. What Alex Carey did was simply smart cricket; there was no deviousness involved and the crowd reaction was despicable, including ludicrous cries about Carey being a cheat," he added.

The 79-year-old highlighted that some of the debatable rules haven’t been enforced as firmly as they should be.

“Umpires have been lax in not enforcing this unwritten rule when it comes to batters wandering out of their crease, and the administrators are negligent for not backing umpires to the hilt. That has served to further expose the administrators’ inaction," Chappell wrote.

“They haven’t had the guts to explain some of the more controversial laws. Consequently the players undeservedly hear despicable chants of “Cheat!" from an ill-informed public," he further remarked.

Ian Chappell also gave the example of using replays for close catches, particularly when there’s no conclusive evidence.

“In the case of replays for catches, perhaps the administrators haven’t explained the process because there is overwhelming evidence that using replays doesn’t always provide the truth. This is further evidence of how administrators make mistakes and the players suffer the consequences," he stated.

Australia are leading the five-match Ashes series 2-1 after three Tests. The fourth Test is due to be played in Manchester from July 19.