Usman Khawaja admits ‘mixed emotions’ over Lord’s return after Ashes 2023 long room abuse

Usman Khawaja didn’t think he’d get the chance to play at Lord’s again. He’s hoping to leave with better memories this time around after the abuse he and his teammates copped in the 2023 Ashes.

Usman Khawaja says he will return to Lord’s with “mixed emotions” following the abuse he and teammates copped at the home of cricket during the infamous 2023 Ashes Test.

Veteran opener Khawaja concedes he didn’t expect to be back playing at the venue but is now set to get that chance in June when Australia takes on South Africa in the World Test Championship Final, which is being held at Lord’s for the first time after previously being staged at Southampton and The Oval.

Khawaja is among the Australian players who detailed the vitriol they faced from Marylebone Cricket Club members in the Lord’s pavilion in the wake of Alex Carey’s dramatic and controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow.

Following an investigation, the MCC expelled one member and suspended two others over their behaviour on day five of the match, one of the most explosive in 141 years of Ashes history.

Usman Khawaja confronts the Lord's longroom

Khawaja has all but shored up his spot in the Aussie side until the next Ashes instalment being in November.

He wants to leave Lord’s on a better note this time around.

“Mixed emotions after last time,” Khawaja told this masthead.

“I didn’t think I’d get another crack at Lord’s. Hopefully this one finishes off better than the last one, I can have better memories of Lord’s when we finish this Test match.”

Khawaja had previously elaborated on what happened to him in The Test documentary series.

“One of them (the members) … (was) spraying me. I was like ‘nup, you can’t be saying that stuff’. He said ‘oh, I can say whatever I effing want’, like a sense of entitlement almost,” Khawaja said.

The Long Room at Lords during the lunch break during the 2023 Ashes.

Teammate Marnus Labuschagne had added: “One of them was foaming at the mouth. A bloke hit Bull [David Warner] when he went up the stairs.”

Australia has returned to Lord’s since the Ashes for a one-dayer in September 2024. England won that match by 186 runs, although there were no reported incidents of MCC member misbehaviour towards the Aussies.

On announcing the sanctions October 2023, the MCC said: “The actions of the three individuals in the pavilion on the day in question fell well below the behaviour expected from our members.

“The penalties set out above are the consequences of breaching the club’s code of conduct. MCC will not be making any further comment on the matter at this time.”

Originally published as Usman Khawaja admits ‘mixed emotions’ over Lord’s return after Ashes 2023 long room abuse