WATCH: UK PM Rishi Sunak sledges Australian PM amid Ashes 2023 fever

Amid the Ashes 2023 fever, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese were engaged in fun banter on the sidelines of the Nato Summit in Lithuania.

In video footage shared on Twitter by Australian PM, both the leaders were seen laughing over Bairstow's dismissal row, which started a week ago.

During the traditional photoshoot, Albanese humorously held out a piece of paper depicting Australia's 2-1 lead in the ongoing Ashes series. Sunak responded with a photo of England batsmen Chris Woakes and Mark Woods celebrating their recent victory in a Test match at Headingley.
 

Then, taking it a step further, Albanese showed Sunak a picture of England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow being controversially stumped in the Lord's Test.

And the banter didn't stop there.

Sunak jokingly said: "I'm sorry I didn't bring my sandpaper with me," bringing back the memories of the historic "Sandpaper Gate" affair in 2018.
 

The light-hearted banter on the sidelines of the Nato Summit was the continuation of their prior argument that took place during the Lord's match earlier this month.

Notably, the high-octane clash between England and Australia during Ashes 2023 got heated up when Jonny Bairstow got stumped after ducking under the bouncer and casually left the crease without the ball being called dead at the Lord's Cricket ground on July 2.

This created a huge uproar in the cricketing world, which split the fans in two. One bunch of fans cited the Spirit of the game being violated, while others claimed that the laws of the game were implemented correctly.

England, though, staged a superb comeback in the series by winning the third Test in Headingley. Australia are leading the five-match Test series 2-1, with the 4th Test scheduled to begin on July 19 at Old Trafford in Manchester.