WATCH: “Didn’t bring my sandpaper,” Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese engage in hilarious banter to take Ashes rivalry to new level

The banter started when Albanese presented his UK counterpart with a paper where the score of the series '2-1' was written.

WATCH: “Didn’t bring my sandpaper,” Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese engage in hilarious banter to take Ashes rivalry to new level

Rishi Sunak, Anthony Albanese (Image via Twitter)

When UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania on (Tuesday) July 11, they talked politics, trade relations, and of course the Ashes. These two prime ministers have taken the Ashes rivalry to another level with hilarious banter.

Albanese presented his UK counterpart with a paper where the score of the series ‘2-1’ was written. Pat Cummins and Co. are leading the series after winning the first two Tests by two wickets and 43 runs respectively. England managed to win the third Test by three wickets.

After seeing the score, Sunak also displayed a piece of paper that showed Mark Wood and Chris Woakes celebrating the hosts’ victory in Headingley, Leeds. But Albanese did not accept the defeat and brought out another picture showing Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal in the second Test which raised the ‘spirit of cricket’ debate in the cricket fraternity. While showing the picture, Albanese could be heard saying: “I was going to be really provocative“.

And Sunak’s reply was: “I’m sorry I didn’t bring my sandpaper with me.” In the infamous Sandpaper-Gate scandal in 2018, Steve Smith and David Warner were caught using sandpaper to tamper with the ball for which they faced a one-year ban.

Here are the two prime ministers’ Twitter posts:

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Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese were involved in banter after 2nd Ashes

WATCH: "Didn't bring my sandpaper," Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese engage in hilarious banter to take Ashes rivalry to new level
Rishi Sunak, Anthony Albanese (Image via Twitter)

When the Jonny Bairstow dismissal by Aussie wicketkeeper Alex Carey in an unusual but legal fashion sparked the spirit of cricket debate Anthony Albanese backed his team through a Twitter post. Rishi Sunak condemned Australia’s act by calling it against the spirit of cricket.

Here’s Albanese’s post:

Highlighting the famous incident at Lord’s, England were on 193/5 with Jonny Bairstow and skipper Ben Stokes at the crease. Bairstow was regularly leaving the crease right after the ball went past him, which was noticed by Carey. The Aussie keeper, on the last ball of an over, underarmed the ball at the stumps after seeing Bairstow again wandering out of the crease and the perplexed Englishman took a long walk back to the pavilion.

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