Australian opener Usman Khawaja has unleashed on the members’ behaviour inside Lord’s famous Long Room following a heated confrontation on day five of the second Ashes Test.
The usually placid Long Room crowd resembled something out of a football match as members hurled abuse at Australia’s players as they went into the rooms ahead of the lunch break following the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow.
According to a Cricket Australia statement it was alleged that players and staff from the Australian team were “verbally abused, with some being physically contacted” as they made their way to lunch.
AS IT HAPPENED: The Ashes second Test, day five
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Khawaja took offence with what he deemed to be “pretty big allegations”, facing up to one of the members inside the Long Room before security intervened and ushered Australia’s players up the stairs. David Warner was also separated from the crowd by the security shortly after Khawaja.
Following Australia’s win, Khawaja revealed what took place during the fiery confrontation.
”It was really disappointing,” he told Nine.
“Lord’s is one of my favourite places to come, there is so much respect shown at Lord’s, particularly in the members pavilion in the Long Room, but there wasn’t today. It was very disappointing.
“If anyone asks me where the best place is to play, I always say Lord’s, the crowd is great, particularly the members are great, (but) some of the stuff coming out of the members’ mouths was really disappointing.
“I wasn’t 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.
“They kept going and I was like, ‘Well, it’s your membership here’, so I was just pointing them out. It’s pretty disrespectful to be honest. I just expect a lot better from the members.”
After the match, Australian captain Pat Cummins said someone from the Marylebone Cricket Club apologised for the behaviour of some of the members.
“I think some of them might lose their memberships over the way they behaved,” he said.
“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.”
Former England captain Eoin Morgan was visibly frustrated by the treatment handed out to the Australian players after seeing vision of the confrontation.
”I arrived here and signed as a 16-year-old kid and I’m lucky to have played my whole career here and I’ve never seen scenes like that, particularly in the Long Room, never mind all the way around the ground,” he said on Sky Sports’ coverage during the lunch break.
“There is a huge sense of frustration but I can’t understand why, it’s complete naivety around what’s happened with Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal.”
Bairstow stunned by Carey’s act
Khawaja defended Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey’s stumping of Bairstow after the match.
”The decision again was in the umpire’s hands,” he said.
“If the umpire deemed it a dead ball today, it was a dead ball. Just like yesterday’s catch (by Mitchell Starc), we don’t fully agree with it, but you have to accept the umpire’s decision. That’s why the umpires are there.
“So I mean, there’s always grey areas in cricket. And the way it played out I guess in some respects, is kind of disappointing.
“I love Stuey (Stuart) Broad. I think he’s one of my favourite cricketers. The way he plays, the way he’s always got a smile on his face and he was pretty riled up out there, which you don’t want to see. But yeah, it is what it is.”
Broad takes mickey out of Australia
The MCC issued an apology in a statement shortly after the incident took place.
”The Long Room is unique in world cricket and the great privilege of players passing through the pavilion is very special,” an MCC spokesperson said.
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“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.”
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