What happens on the field, stays on the field. For as long as competitive sport has been played, this has been one of its founding principles: that when the final whistle blows, the last punch is thrown, what happened before passes into irrelevance.

Which, if you give it the slightest moment’s thought, is a slightly curious notion, and one applied with varying degrees of consistency. Post-match interviews, for example, would be a good deal duller. Tell us about that diving header you scored to win the game in the 90th minute: “Nah, don’t want to get into that. What happens on the field, stays on the field. I’ll take that champagne off your hands, though.”

This is an issue that has been brought into sharp relief by the current Ashes series, in which England are being soundly beaten, and not just with bat and ball. In particular, they have become increasingly irritated by Australia’s - apparently deliberate - tactic of making pointed comments within earshot of the stump microphones, in order to create a media hubbub. Jonny Bairstow, forced to defend an innocuous “head-butt” in a Perth bar after Australia’s David Warner mentioned it during play, has been its most notable victim.

Ashes Second Test - in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Ashes Second Test - in pictures Ashes Second Test - in pictures Ashes Second Test - in pictures Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day One Khawaja frustrated England with a patient half-century Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day One Will Root regret asking Australia to bat? Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day One Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day One Craig Overton removed Australian skipper Steve Smith for his maiden Test wicket Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Two Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Two Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Two Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Two Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Three AFP Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Three Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Three Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Three Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Three AFP Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Three Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Four Anderson claimed his first ever five-for in Australia Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Four James Anderson's five wickets helped bowl out Australia for just 138 Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Four Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Four Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Four EPA Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Four EPA Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Four Steve Smith appeals for the wicket of Alastair Cook. EPA Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Four The Barmy Army taunt Australia captain Steve Smith after using up his referrals EPA Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Four Steve Smith looks on dejectedly in front of the big screen at the Adelaide Oval Reuters Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Five Josh Hazlewood celebrates taking the wicket of Joe Root on day five Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Five Australia celebrate their second Test victory Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Five Josh Hazlewood takes the wicket of overnight watchman Chris Woakes Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Five Jonny Bairstow is bowled out by Mitchell Starc Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Five Jonny Bairstow is bowled out by Mitchell Starc Getty Ashes Second Test - in pictures Day Five Joe Root congratulates Steve Smith after Australia won the second Ashes Test in Adelaide Getty

During the second Test at Adelaide, England coach Trevor Bayliss questioned whether players’ utterances on the field should really be broadcast live on television. “I don’t think anyone has to listen to what is being said,” he explained. “I’d like to see the microphones turned down. I don’t think that’s necessarily a thing for young kids watching.”

This is not a new debate, of course. Indeed, last year it was Australia making the same argument, after their fast bowler Josh Hazlewood was fined for using some choice language during a Test against New Zealand. “The microphones shouldn’t be on,” former fast bowler Ryan Harris said at the time. “Turn them off and we have no problem.”

Quite what is the point of a stump microphone if it’s not turned on is a metaphysical question perhaps best left to Harris to answer. But it remains a strangely prevalent attitude within the game, which stems from this same unquestioned, almost unquestionable assumption: what happens on the field, stays on the field.

Underpinning this, I think, is something even deeper-seated: the belief that competitive sport exists on a different plane to regular society, and should be policed accordingly. What would be common assault in the street is cheered by thousands in the boxing ring. What would be described at the supermarket as ‘attempted murder and possession of a dangerous weapon with deadly intent’, is described at the Olympics as simply very bad archery. All this, in itself, is fine.

Bairstow has been at the centre of much of the verbals in this series (Getty)

The problem comes when a demand for special treatment bleeds into something more sinister: the idea that the moral code under which society operates is not necessarily relevant to sport. Old pros talk about the abuse - or “banter” - that would fly around when they were playing the game, and the furore that would have resulted if stump microphones had been around in their time. They’re not being rueful, of course. They’re being nostalgic.

It is not just the fan who sees sport as an escape. For the competitor, it is also a form of liberation: a bubble, a sanctuary, a place where the normal rules of action and consequence do not apply. This is why many cricketers see stump microphones as an unwelcome, even sinister intrusion. The field is their safe space, their Narnia, their dark Web, where fantasies can be indulged and dreams made.

Bairstow has been subjected to some rough treatment from the Australians (Getty)

Ask any current player and they will tell you they very rarely hear genuinely objectionable stuff on the field. But it happens. Warner himself was fined just three years ago for telling India’s Rohit Sharma to “speak English”. South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs was banned for describing Pakistan fans as “baboons” who “should go back to the zoo”. Three decades ago, in a time before stump microphones, Sri Lanka accused Australian fast bowler Greg Campbell of calling one of their players a “black c***”.

This is just the stuff we know about. Imagine the gargantuan, oceanic volume of stuff we don’t. From WG Grace “chaffing” opponents in the 19th century, to the racism faced by West Indian players in the Lancashire leagues in the 1920s, to the modern dogma of ‘mental disintegration’, abuse on the cricket field has always happened in one form or another, and I think we’re kidding ourselves if we believe otherwise.

Too often, though, these incidents have been buried in a sort of omerta: a dereliction of responsibility, a disdain for the watching public that can occasionally cross the line into the surreal. After all, the idea that athletes should have an expectation of privacy when they are performing in front of an audience of millions, reaping extravagant rewards as a result of their deeds, is not simply untenable but really rather ridiculous. Many players only grasp this on retiring for the game and becoming viewers themselves.

The Ashes through the years Show all 24 1 /24 The Ashes through the years The Ashes through the years The Ashes England and Australia have battled for the little urn for over a hundred years with countless iconic moments along the way Getty The Ashes through the years One of England's first heroes was Sydney Barnes who starred as the series' were evenly contested until the First World War Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years England won only one Test out of 15 from the end of the war until 1925 with Herbert Sutcliffe one of few standouts Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Post-war the great Don Bradman put England to the sword time and again scoring 974 runs in a single series in 1930 Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years In 1956 Jim Laker produced the bowling display of a lifetime taking 19 of the possible 20 Australian wickets in an England victory at Old Trafford Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years England's dominance was short-lived with Richie Benaud skippering Australia to a dominant series win in 1959 Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Geoffrey Boycott entered the fray in the 1970s and was never too far away from the headlines Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Ray Illingworth guided England to success in Australia in the 1970/71 series Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Allan Border's relentless will to win kickstarted an extended period of success for Australia in the eighties Getty The Ashes through the years Ian Botham's match-winning heroics at Headingley in 1981 remain one of the rivalry's most memorable and iconic moments Getty The Ashes through the years Steve Waugh was one of the stars as Australia ruthlessly seized control of the Ashes in the 1990s Getty The Ashes through the years Shane Warne exploded on to the scene in 1993 with the 'ball of the century' and would go on to torment England for years to come AFP The Ashes through the years Glenn McGrath played an integral part in the Australian dominance establishing himself as the pre-eminent seam bowler of his generation Getty The Ashes through the years The tide turned in 2005 with Steve Harmison's last-gasp wicket at Edgbaston proving vital to a famous recapturing of the urn Getty The Ashes through the years The 2005 series is widely-regarded as the greatest of them all Getty The Ashes through the years England came crashing back to earth in 2007 with Australia handing them an infamous whitewash before McGrath, Warne and Justin Langer all called it a day in Sydney Getty The Ashes through the years James Anderson and Monty Panesar's stout rearguard action in 2009 was key as England regained the Ashes Getty The Ashes through the years Alastair Cook was England's hero in 2011 with 766 runs and three centuries including an imperious 235* in Brisbane Getty The Ashes through the years Graeme Swann was outstanding with the ball too as England won the series 3-1 Getty The Ashes through the years Ian Bell top scored in the summer of 2013 as England kept the urn Getty The Ashes through the years Mitchell Johnson produced the form of his life to obliterate England in 2013/14 in a second whitewash in five series Getty The Ashes through the years Stuart Broad's memorable 8 for 15 at Trent Bridge saw Australia dismissed for 60 in one of the great fast bowling spells Getty The Ashes through the years Steve Smith starred as Australia bulldozed England in 2017/18 Getty Images The Ashes through the years Joe Root and Tim Paine captain the sides this time around Getty Images

All of which feeds into the central point: that whatever gets picked up on them, stump microphones immeasurably enhance the viewing experience. Formula One was one of the first sports to recognise this, by broadcasting excerpts from the pit radio: delayed, edited and curated, of course, but still illuminating and occasionally fascinating.