Australian players stroll previous MCC members as they enter the Lord’s Long Room after Day Five of the LV= Insurance Ashes 2nd Test match between England and Australia at Lord’s Cricket Ground on July 02, 2023 in London, England
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The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has suspended three members over altercations with the Australian staff in Lord’s Long Room following Jonny Bairstow’s controversial stumping on the ultimate day of the second Ashes Test.
The MCC had earlier “unreservedly apologised” to the Australian staff for the behaviour of a few of its members, who allegedly verbally abused a number of visiting players as they made approach to the dressing room at lunch on Sunday.
Television footage confirmed openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner concerned in a heated trade with spectators within the Long Room, which is an space reserved just for MCC members and their visitors.
Khawaja was pulled again by safety guards. Warner was additionally seen making a remark to a number of the members, with safety compelled to step in.
“Further to the earlier statement, MCC can confirm it has suspended three Members identified from earlier today. 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,” the MCC stated in a press release late on Sunday.
The disagreeable trade got here after Bairstow’s dismissal, which came about half an hour earlier than lunch.
Bairstow had ducked a sluggish bouncer and instantly left his crease to fulfill skipper Ben Stokes on the different finish, considering the ball was already “dead”.
However, wicketkeeper Alex Carey underarmed the ball into his stumps and the Australians celebrated. Bairstow was given out for 10 after a quick assessment.
While there is no such thing as a doubt that Bairstow was out underneath the legal guidelines of the sport, many together with England coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes consider the dismissal was not within the spirit of the sport.
After the dismissal, Australian staff was booed and jeered with chants of “same old Aussies, always cheating” reverberating on the Lord’s.
“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,” the assertion learn.
Bairstow’s dismissal left Stokes because the lone recognised batter. The skipper performed a knock for the ages, slamming an anger-fuelled 155 off 214 balls that was laced with 9 sixes and as many fours.
However as soon as he was out, England slumped to a 43-run loss. The hosts now path the five-match sequence 0-2.
Khawaja condemns ‘disrespectful’ behaviour
Talking to Channel Nine in regards to the incident after the match, a “disappointed” Khawaja slammed the disrespectful behaviour in the direction of his staff.
“Lord’s is one of my favourite places to come. There’s always respect shown at Lord’s, particularly in the Members Pavilion in the Long Room, but there wasn’t today. It was very disappointing.
“If anybody requested me the place the very best place is to play I all the time say Lord’s. The crowd is nice, significantly the members are nice, and a number of the stuff that was popping out of the members’ mouths is actually disappointing and I wasn’t simply going stand by and cop it. So I simply talked to a couple of them.
“A few of them were throwing out some pretty big allegations and I just called them up on it and they kept going, and I was like, well, this is your membership here. So I’m just pointing them out. But it’s pretty disrespectful, to be honest. I just expect a lot better from the members.”