It never settled in Carey's hands though, he caught it and threw it in one action and before Bairstow even left his crease.
The real rule is both teams have to consider the ball dead before it's dead, and Australia never did.
Also kind of funny the English whining about "the spirit of cricket" when Bairstow himself tries the exact same dismissal against Labuschagne, only difference is he missed by about 8 stumps
Being serious: I think this play deserves to be quite controversial. Mankadding absolutely does not. Mankadding is only made possible by a batsman trying to sneak an advantage. If there's no risk involved in that, it's just an unfair advantage. Mankadding is that risk. Totally fair.
This situation is a little different. I think the right call was made, but there was no advantage to be gained by Bairstow. He just made a mistake in thinking the ball was dead when it wasn't. (And if you think the rules quoted make it clear it was dead—well by my reading, the strictest interpretation of that wording would mean that stumping is literally always impossible, because an unpire can't stump without having the ball in his hands.)
It left a blight because you'd always rather win without a controversial call, but it was the right call.
There’s the laws of the game, and the spirit of the game.
Sure, and I can see some ambiguity in whether or not the Bairstow stumping is within the spirit of the game.
But Mankadding? 100% fair play. It's literally the only available counterplay to a batsman sneaking an advantage by advancing early. To suggest it's not in the spirit of the game is to suggest that batsmen deserve to get free runs. I'd sooner say that advancing early is against the spirit of the game than I would say that of Mankadding.