Three MCC members have been suspended after the Australia team experienced “aggressive and abusive” behaviour in the Long Room at lunch on the final day of the second Ashes Test after a controversial morning session.
Australia were booed off and subjected to chants of “same old Aussies, always cheating” by a furious Lord’s crowd following the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow by wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
As they walked off to a barrage of abuse, video footage showed Usman Khawaja and David Warner stopping to confront MCC members in the Long Room as the Australian batters took offence at comments from the men in question. Khawaja branded the scenes “pretty disrespectful” and said he took exception to “some pretty big allegations”.
Security guards then had to step between Khawaja and the MCC members, before shepherding the player towards the dressing room.
The MCC confirmed in a statement on Sunday evening it had “suspended three members identified from earlier today”.
The statement added: “They will not be permitted back to Lord’s whilst the investigation takes place and were informed of this by MCC chief executive, Guy Lavender, this evening.
“We maintain that the behaviour of a small number of members was completely unacceptable and, whilst there was no suggestion by Pat Cummins in the post-match press conference that there was any physical altercation, it remains wholly unacceptable to behave in such a way, which goes against the values of the club.
“MCC condemns the behaviour witnessed and once again we re-iterate our apology to Cricket Australia. We are thoroughly disappointed to be talking about poor behaviour when the Long Room, as stated by [Australia captain] Pat Cummins himself, is otherwise renowned for being ‘really welcoming’. It has been a thrilling day to finish off a wonderful five days of Test cricket.”
Australia captain Cummins was unhappy with the treatment but insisted he didn’t want the tradition of walking past MCC members when entering or leaving the Lord’s pitch to end.
“The crowd certainly made themselves known, in the Long Room and also out there,” Cummins said after the game, which Australia won by 43 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
“I think they were just quite aggressive and abusive towards some of our players, which I know the MCC were not too happy with.
“Other than that one time, they were fantastic all week. The members here are normally fantastic, really welcoming. Something special about playing at Lord’s is you feel like you are at a really special place surrounded by people who have a love for the game. I quite like the tradition.
“I don’t think it hurts any more than normal. I think just standards that are held by the members are maybe a bit different to what you expect from certain members of the crowd at Edgbaston.”
The MCC released a statement condemning the actions of the member. A spokesperson said: “The Long Room is unique in world cricket and the great privilege of players passing through the pavilion is very special. After this morning’s play, emotions were running high, and words were unfortunately exchanged with some of the Australian team, by a small number of members.
“We have unreservedly apologised to the Australian team and will deal with any member who has not maintained the standard we expect through our disciplinary processes. It was not necessary to eject anyone from the ground and I am pleased to say that there was no repeat of this as the players resumed the field for this afternoon’s session.”
The controversy occurred when Bairstow was given out with England on 193-5, chasing a daunting target of 371.
Bairstow had ducked under a bouncer from Cameron Green, tapped the crease and began to walk down to prod the pitch when Carey sent an under-arm throw in after catching the ball, leaping for joy as he hit the stumps. There was confusion in the middle, Bairstow seemingly believing the ball was dead at the end of the over, but Australia were happy to proceed with a deeply divisive appeal and the Englishman was given out after a TV review.
Lord’s is typically renowned as the most well-behaved ground in the country but the sold-out crowd of almost 32,000 burst into jeers and repeated refrains of “same old Aussies, always cheating”.
A bitter row about the ‘spirit of cricket’ will surely follow, while Bairstow’s lack of attention to detail is also liable to receive plenty of attention.
Stuart Broad threw himself into the row, seemingly picked up on stump microphone telling Carey he would be remembered forever for his actions, and later making an ostentatious show of grounding his bat behind the line at the end of an over.
Stuart Broad made his feelings about the situation known— (Action Images via Reuters)
England captain Ben Stokes then smashed his way to an angry 150 after the dismissal – going on a six-hitting rampage as he set out for apparent retribution, hammering his way to a jaw-dropping hundred.
However, when he eventually fell with 70 runs still needed, England’s chances of victory were all but over and it was confirmed as Josh Tongue was the last man out with the hosts a frustrating 43 runs short.
Additional reporting by PA
