‘Pretty disrespectful’: MCC suspends three members after Long Room incident

Threee MCC members were suspended after ugly scenes in the Long Room in which Australian players were abused and “physically contacted”.

There were ugly scenes in the prestigious Long Room on day five of the Lord’s Ashes Test, with Australian players alleged to have been “verbally abused” and “physically contacted” by MCC members.

Following the controversial dismissal of England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, the typically subdued Lord’s crowd turned hostile on Sunday, with boos and chants of “same old Aussies, always cheating” echoing around the venue throughout the morning session.

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The jeers continued during the lunch break when Pat Cummins and his teammates entered the Long Room, where MCC members voiced their displeasure with Alex Carey’s stumping.

Cricket Australia confirmed team management had requested the MCC investigate “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 said in a statement.

In footage released by Sky Sports, which you can watch in the player above, Australian opener Usman Khawaja was held back by security staff during a heated exchange with one of the members before David Warner also got involved. Umpire Chris Gaffaney was also forced to intervene.

This is disgraceful. https://t.co/Txp0xoiN8h

— Peter Lalor (@plalor) July 2, 2023

“It was really disappointing,” Khawaja told 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 released a statement apologising to the Australian team for the incident.

Usman Khawaja was engaged in a heated confrontation in the Long Room.

“The Long Room is unique in world cricket and the great privilege of players passing through the Pavilion is very special,” the statement said.

“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 in the post-match presentation, Australian captain Pat Cummins confirmed someone from the MCC had apologised to the team.

“I think some of them might lose their memberships over the way they behaved,” Cummins 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.”

Usman Khawaja and David Warner were both abused by the MCC Members. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

The MCC later revealed that three members had been suspended and would not be permitted back to Lord’s while 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 statement said.

“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 ultimately won the second Ashes Test by 43 runs, taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Originally published as ‘Pretty disrespectful’: MCC suspends three members after Long Room incident