For time immemorial, England has preached 'Spirit of Cricket' to the world, but their moral high ground was found wanting after Ben Stokes and his team had an emotional meltdown in the final hour of the Manchester Test as India played out of their skin to pull off a miraculous draw. As Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were less than 20 runs short of a century, the England captain walked up to the batters and offered to draw curtains on the game. While he was well within his rights to ask the opposition if they wanted to walk off with the minimum required overs played, the reaction that followed from Stokes and his teammates left a sour taste to what was an incredible match. Several English players mocked the star Indian duo, who put up a heroic display and were well within their rights to carry on playing to complete their well-deserved centuries, later, Stokes handed the ball to Harry Brook, who was bowling 'lollipopes' to the Indian batters with constant efforts being made in words and actions to demean the achievement of both players. Ben Stokes Enacts Pakistan, Refuses To Follow Allan Border's Sportsmanship Were the words and actions of England reminiscent of ' the spirit of cricket'? Yes, the draw was the only possible result, but was it fair to bully two players for trying to get to a century with 15 overs left in the day's play, and one of them eying his maiden ton? Even if one understands England's desperation to leave the field after a gruelling day, were their actions after India's denials within cricket's moral code of conduct? In 1984, it was said that in a similar situation, Vivian Richards showed great sportsmanship and allowed Australia's Allan Border to complete a century before the teams walked off. Stokes' actions fall in line with Pakistan's antics in 1983 when the Zaheer Abbas-led team walked off the field in Bengaluru with 20 overs still left to be played, only to be called back by Sunil Gavaskar, who made sure to complete his 28th ton before agreeing on a draw. It was no surprise that Gavaskar was quick to lash out at Stokes' conduct in Manchester during the live coverage and even called for India to bat out the full quota of overs left in the day to frustrate England further. Post-match, Stokes claimed that his respect for Sundar and Jadeja would have been the same even without the century, but the question remains why the England captain feels his opinion is more important than the will of players and the opposition team and the record books. After all, a Test century doesn't come easy. The Hypocrisy Behind England's Self-Proclaimed 'Spirit Of Cricket' One wonders how Stokes, England players, and fans would have reacted if the roles were reversed and India tried to pull off the same shenanigans with two England players trying to get a century. In the aftermath of the incident, ex-England players like Jonathan Trott defended Stokes and put the incident down to cultural differences between the two countries, with India being accused of being a 'milestone-obsessed country.' The comment only reeked of double standards from a country that celebrates a 'honours board' for centuries and five-wicket hauls on most of its grounds, including the hallowed turf of Lord's. The irony in all of it remains that it wasn't even 48 hours from Joe Root going past Ricky Ponting in the all-time run-getter's list, with only Sachin Tendulkar ahead of him. The farcical actions from the England players come just two years after the controversial Jonny Bairstow run-out in the 2023 Ashes Lord's Test, where Stokes came out and claimed the moral high ground after his team's defeat by stating he would not like to win a match in this manner. Less than a year before that, Stokes contributed to the outrage against India's Deepti Sharma for running out Charlie Dean on the non-striker's end at Lord's during a women's ODI match and played down comparisons with the 2019 World Cup final. 'Why are people comparing a ball deflecting off my bat to a mankad,' wrote Stokes at the time. While the England captain was conveniently aware of the rules that helped England win the World Cup in extraordinary fashion, the regulation did not seem to matter when Bairstow and Dean lost their presence of mind and were fairly dismissed. More recently, England opener Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley walked out to bat 90 seconds later than the regulations required at Lord's in order to ensure that they only get to play one over before the close of play on Day 3. Is it the blatant breach of the rule books, as Indian captain Shubman Gill questioned? In 2011, MS Dhoni recalled Ian Bell after the star batter was run out in a bizarre manner, which led to then England captain and coach Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower visiting the Indian dressing room in the session break to ask the visitors to withdraw their appeal despite the dismissal being completely legal. While this turned boos into cheers for Dhoni and won him the ICC 'Spirit of Cricket Award' for the decade, the incident proved a turning point in the match as the hosts won the Test and ultimately the series by a 4-0 margin. England played the 'Spirit of Card' to their advantage to secure the result in their favour. 'Spirit Of Cricket' - Cricket's Colonial Hangover? The preamble of the 'Laws of Cricket' by MCC includes the 'Spirit of Cricket', and was initiated by ex-England cricketer Colin Cowdrey. The basis ethos of the term in its traditional state is for respect between teams and fair play. However, in England's case, the rule book of the sport takes a back seat, with multiple instances of the laws being undermined while calls for the game to be played in the right spirit. Cricket's history is rooted in being a colonial sport from the time the British ruled the world. Although those times have long passed, England's constant moral proclamation to the world over how the sport should be played exhibits a hangover of the era where they feel the world is listening to their command and they can dictate how others should behave with little consideration to any other line of thinking.