By Daniel Brettig
London: “Cheats, cheats, cheats” and worse was bellowed from the floor of the Long Room at Lord’s as Australia’s cricketers filed in during the lunch break of a febrile second Ashes Test.
All were abused, some allegedly accosted physically. Some, like Usman Khawaja and David Warner, stopped to discuss the scene with their abusers and what it may mean for the unique privilege of Lord’s members watching the players walk past them on their way to and from the playing arena.
By day’s end, three MCC members had their memberships suspended, pending the outcome of an investigation by the club.
These scenes formed the ugliest crucible of a day in which, from the moment Jonny Bairstow was given out stumped by Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey, England and the Lord’s crowd took it upon themselves to tell the Australians that they had transgressed the spirit of the game.
Bairstow was stumped at the end of the 52nd over when he walked out of his crease as Carey rolled the ball at the stumps, knocking the bails off with a shocked Bairstow two paces out of his ground.
The tourists appealed and the hosts were miffed when third umpire Marais Erasmus sent the English keeper back to the pavilion.
Never mind that Bairstow, himself, had tried to dismiss the striker in the same fashion in the same game. Never mind that it is a hugely common thing for wicketkeepers to attempt at all levels of the game. And never mind that Carey threw the ball as soon as he caught it, not waiting for Bairstow to leave his crease as some wicketkeepers have done.
All that mattered was that Bairstow was out, and with him most of England’s best hope of winning the game through a partnership with Ben Stokes. The magnificent innings that Stokes unleashed subsequently played out against the backdrop of Lord’s in tumult, both applauding the England captain and relentlessly booing Australia.
Some seasoned Lord’s attendees, such as former England and Middlesex captain Andrew Strauss, reasoned that it was due to the day five crowd being less exclusive than that of the first four days. It was an intriguing observation in the same week that English cricket has found itself under the spotlight of a damning review of how it has handled issues of race, class and gender discrimination.
Stuart Broad, the next batter to the wicket, made the most of the situation in numerous exchanges with Australia’s players, including telling Carey “you’ll forever be remembered for that”.
Later, he pronounced Bairstow’s dismissal “literally the worst thing I’ve ever seen in cricket”. Broad also commented “do you think that’s out?” when Cummins dropped a difficult return chance from Stokes.
When lunch was called, the crowd launched into yet another round of boos and chants of “same old Aussies, always cheating”, while Broad carried on his theatrics amid a century stand with the furiously focused Stokes. This felt more like being at Millwall than Marylebone.
The dramatic scenes continued in the Long Room of the members’ pavilion, as Khawaja reacted to a comment by one of the MCC members and was seen to remonstrate before cameras panned away. Chants and abuse rang through the room as Labuschagne and Warner were also harangued by the members.
“Lord’s is one of my favourite places to come. There’s so much respect shown, particularly in the members’ pavilion and in the Long Room, but there wasn’t today,” Khawaja said after the match.
Usman Khawaja confronts an MCC member at Lord’s.Credit: Nine WWOS
“It was very disappointing. If anyone asked 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 that was coming out of the members’ mouths was really disappointing, and 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, and they kept going. And if they kept going and I was like, ‘Well, it’s your membership here’, so I was just pointing them out. But it’s pretty disrespectful, to be honest. I just expect a lot better from the members.”
Guy Lavender, the chief executive of the MCC, later addressed the Lord’s members to ask them to respect the players in their space. The MCC denied that any members had been ejected from the pavilion for abusing players, but released a statement apologising to the Australian team for their behaviour.
“The Long Room is unique in world cricket and the great privilege of players passing through the pavilion is very special,” Lavender 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 I am pleased to say that there was no repeat of this as the players resumed the field for this afternoon’s session.”
What did take place after Australia eventually sealed a 43-run victory was a chorus of angry boos at the players, especially captain Pat Cummins. This left England with the question of how to play things. If there was any question as to whether the hosts would diverge from the ugliness of the Long Room, it was soon answered. Bairstow’s dismissal was to remain an outrage.
“If we were in the same situation, then I feel we would’ve made a different decision,” England’s coach Brendon McCullum told the BBC.
England’s players have often wondered how much more advantage they have when playing at other grounds away from Lord’s, which tends to be defined by its decorum. If it ever gets boisterous, this has more to do with the allocation of a bottle of champagne or two large beer cans that attendees are allowed to bring.
This time, as Australia’s team management stated that “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”, Stokes’ response was something closer to letting slip the dogs of war for Headingley and beyond.
“It was pretty mad wasn’t it?” he said. “I definitely think it’s going to be ramped up. Australia have had their past and have come here a few times since and I think they’re all used to the English crowd. When we go to Australia we get lambasted as well.
Usman Khawaja consoles Ben Stokes after the England captain’s dismissal.Credit: Getty Images
“Look, I think that’s part of the sport we play – you get thousands of people who want their team to win and they’ll just jump on something. We get in Australia – 90,000 Australians at the MCG all cursing at you. It’s part of it.”
As day crept into night, Lavender said that three MCC members had been identified for being in direct contact with Australian players.
“I have written to each of them this evening to advise that their membership rights have been suspended with immediate effect, pending an investigation,” Lavender said in a letter to members.
It remains to be seen whether the Long Room’s close access to players will be left unsullied.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Watch every ball of the Ashes series live and exclusive on Channel Nine and 9NOW