There had been ugly scenes within the prestigious Long Room on day 5 of the Lord’s Ashes Test, with Australian gamers alleged to have been “verbally abused” and “physically contacted” by MCC members.
Following the controversial dismissal of England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, the sometimes subdued Lord’s crowd turned hostile on Sunday, with boos and chants of “same old Aussies, always cheating” echoing across the venue all through the morning session.
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The jeers continued in the course of the lunch break when Pat Cummins and his teammates entered the Long Room, the place MCC members voiced their displeasure with Alex Carey’s stumping.
Cricket Australia confirmed crew administration had requested the MCC examine “several incidents involving spectators in the members area”.
“It is alleged players and staff from the Australian team were verbally abused, with some being physically contacted as they made their way to lunch through the members area,” CA mentioned in a press release.
In footage launched by Sky Sports, Australian opener Usman Khawaja was held again by safety employees throughout a heated change with one of many members earlier than David Warner additionally bought concerned. Umpire Chris Gaffaney was additionally compelled to intervene.
“It was really disappointing,” Khawaja informed Channel 9 after the match.
“Some of the stuff that was coming out of the members’ mouths was really disappointing. I wasn’t just going to stand by and cop it, so I just talked to a few of them.
“A few of them were throwing out some pretty big allegations, and I just called them up on it.
“It was pretty disrespectful to be honest. I was expecting a lot better from the members.”
During the afternoon session, the MCC launched a press release apologising to the Australian crew for the incident.
“The Long Room is unique in world cricket and the great privilege of players passing through the Pavilion is very special,” the assertion mentioned.
“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 we are pleased to say that there was no repeat of this as the players resumed the field for this afternoon’s session.”
Speaking to reporters within the post-match presentation, Australian captain Pat Cummins confirmed somebody from the MCC had apologised to the crew.
“I think some of them might lose their memberships over the way they behaved,” Cummins mentioned.
“Other than that one time, they were fantastic all week. Normally fantastic, really welcoming. Something special about playing at Lord’s. I quite like the tradition.
“I think they were just quite aggressive and abusive towards some of our players, which I know the MCC weren’t too happy with.”
The MCC later revealed that three members had been suspended and wouldn’t be permitted again to Lord’s whereas an investigation takes place.
“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,” the MCC assertion mentioned.
“MCC condemns the behaviour witnessed and once again we reiterate our apology to Cricket Australia. We are thoroughly disappointed to be talking about poor behaviour when the Long Room as stated by 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 in the end received the second Ashes Test by 43 runs, taking a 2-0 lead within the five-match sequence.
Originally revealed as ‘Pretty disrespectful’: MCC suspends three members after Long Room incident
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
