Australian players and members had to be separated as things got ugly on the fifth day at Lord’s

A controversial run out sparked ugly scenes in the Long Room on the fifth day of the Lord’s Test.

Stuart Broad speaks to David Warner as they leave the field for lunch on the final day of the Ashes 2nd Test match at Lord's. Picture: Getty Images

The last day of the Lord’s Test is being played out amid ugly scenes, a cacophony of boos and series of controversies that will echo through the series.

Security staff had to intervene as members abused the Australian players making their way from the field and through the long room.

Footage showed Usman Khawaja stop and engage with a member before an official stepped between both.

One person there told The Australian that Khawaja responded to the abuse by calling one fan a “pork chop”.

Khawaja then appeared to point out the person responsible to security staff.

The witness said that earlier David Warner had been accosted by a member on the stairwell who was described as “an older gent who had quite a bit of red wine”.

Members had been warned not to engage with players before the team came through.

Another member had to be spoken to for abusing Marnus Labuschagne.

There are further reports, unconfirmed, of a physical scuffle with another player on the stairs between the dressing and dining rooms.

Ricky Ponting was also abused in the lunch break by the crowd, which was incensed by the stumping of Jonny Bairstow in that session.

The MCC is preparing a statement on the incident and it is understood the chief executive Guy Lavender spoke to members during the lunch break to remind them that opposition players need be respected.

Rarely has the rarefied atmosphere at Lord’s taken the sort of turn with the stands sounding like an angry mob at a cage fight.

The game that Australia looked to have lost in the margins on the fourth evening was squared in them on the fourth morning.

With England inching its way toward an unlikely victory Cameron Green bowled a bouncer that sailed past Bairstow and into Alex Carey’s glove.

The batsman wandered casually from his crease and the keeper under armed the ball into the stumps.

The Australians went up in celebration, the crowd, initially stunned, began to announce its displeasure, the sound rising and occasionally shaping into that old “same old Aussies always cheating” ditty.

The run out that started it all. Picture: Getty Images

Replays showed that Bairstow had been similarly careless in previous deliveries and the keeper had attempted a similar dismissal himself earlier in the game.

Carey had taken the ball and thrown it in one motion, but even if he had paused the laws of cricket state that the ball is still in play until both sides regard it as so.

“20.1.2 The ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batters at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.”

The error was Bairstow’s just as the error on the previous evening was Mitchell Starc’s.

The incident seems to have enraged Ben Stokes, who hit a series of angry boundaries, including three successive sixes to bring up his hundred.

The England captain appears intent on mounting the one man assault that got his team over the line at Headingley in 2019.

England needed 128 runs at the break with bowler Stuart Broad batting alongside Stokes.

The morning began with cricket still wrestling over the decision to disallow a catch that Starc believed he had taken in the minutes before play finished for the day.

Starc had made good ground and caught the ball cleanly but grounded the ball in his hand as he came to a halt.

Again the law is clear that it was not a catch.
An MCC spokesperson said: “The Long Room is unique in world cricket and the great privilege of players passing through the Pavilion is very special. 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.

The Australian team said: “Australian management has requested the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) investigate several incidents involving spectators in the members area during lunch on day five of the Lord’s Test.

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.