Headingley can spark Ashes into a wildfire

Captain Pat Cummins might as well be sending a teammate to the land of fire and brimstone at that point.

If Lord's ignited the Ashes, Headingley could spark a wildfire.

England captain Ben Stokes, with his side trailing 2-0, has warned Australia to prepare for a "ramped up" atmosphere when they arrive at Headingley for the third Test of the Ashes series beginning on Thursday night [AEST].

Because England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow is one of their own.

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Andrew Flintoff once likened the atmosphere at Twenty20 games against Yorkshire at Headingley to the most volatile soccer crowds in Europe.

And Australian players will be in the firing line when the series heads to Bairstow's home county, a venue 45 minutes from his hometown in Bradford.

Authorities plan to increase security at a notoriously hard-nosed venue that was the site of a brawl in the stands at a Test between England and New Zealand last June.

All because Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey stumped an unwitting Bairstow, who had bizarrely wandered out of his crease, on day five of the second Test at Lord's.

That was the flashpoint - a completely legal play, for what it's worth - which unearthed a level of vitriol few could have foreseen.

Same old Aussies, always cheating! Even if Bairstow had attempted the same dismissal while keeping earlier in the same game, or England coach Brendon McCullum had done the same during his days as a Black Cap.

The "spirit of cricket reduced to ashes", proclaimed one English daily, before the UK Prime Minister declared the game's ethical code had been breached.

In truth, the spirit of cricket is a flimsy saviour people cling to when they have nothing else.

The spirit of cricket took an early lunch break before three Marylebone Cricket Club members had their memberships suspended for abusing Australia's players inside the famed Long Room at Lord's.

The abuse from different members included several expletives and calling players "cheats", a "disgrace", "liars", while telling them to return home. Usman Khawaja and David Warner confronted one member before two stewards stepped in.

Stuart Broad told Carey his stumping of Bairstow would be the act for which he would forever be remembered.

We wouldn't want to win a match like that, the English declared. Never mind the fact the hosts were still 178 runs shy of the target.

The reality is cricketers plying their trade at all levels across Australia and England are wired differently.

Australians graduate through a harder school of cricket, which is perhaps why a wicketkeeper in a school first XI match in these parts would be celebrated for an act mirroring that of Carey.

Australian batter Steve Smith has endured some of the worst cricket crowds can dish out, having been exiled following the sandpaper saga during his tenure as captain.

As he prepares for his 100^th Test match, the superstar Australian suggests the hostile English crowds can say what they want during the next five days of cricket.

Cheats? He's heard it all before.

"Honestly, it doesn't bother me. Everyone is entitled to their opinion," Smith said.

"For me, I know the person I am, I know how I want to go about things. I'm out here playing my game and I'm out here playing for my country, and I'm proud of that.

"Anyone can say what they like, it doesn't bother me. I'm comfortable in my own skin."

Even so, the Australians are prepared for the backlash.

Carey is at short odds to be booed the first time he gloves a ball and each time he walks out to bat.

Perhaps Australia have woken the beast that is Stokes, who will look to conjure another Headingley miracle.

Who could forget his innings four years ago, swinging his way to a remarkable 135 not out to snatch a one-wicket win and square the series against Australia, to the delight of the Western Terrace?

However Cummins suggests the prospect of their wicketkeeper being in the firing line could galvanise the Australian team.

So maybe England have their own cause for concern as Australia close in on a rare feat for an away team during an Ashes series.

"That's the goal, isn't it? I've said it for a long time, that's something that's been on my bucket list: to win an Ashes series in England," Smith said.

"What a way to top it off if I could do it in my 100th game. It would be even more special.

"To be able to walk out at Headingley, it's going to be a great moment for me to tick off 100 games. Not too many people have done that in the Australian set-up.

"There's been loads of great things this team has achieved. I've been lucky to play with some tremendous players in the dressing room, some great teams, and I think our team right now is right up there."

To prove the point, the Australians are on the cusp of their first Ashes series win abroad in 22 years.

They just need to withstand the Ben Stokes fireworks on the pitch and the explosions in the Headingley stands to do it.

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