It’s not often that the result of an Ashes Test is consigned to a footnote, but the unprecedented scenes in the Lord’s Long Room would take some beating, even from the breathtaking events in the middle of the famous venue on Sunday.
The prospect of Australia winning an Ashes series in England for the first time since 2001 or even Ben Stokes’ incredible 155 that almost pulled off a heist for the hosts were overshadowed by some Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) folk allegedly bad-mouthing the Aussie players, resulting in three members being suspended pending investigation.
The unusual manner in which Jonny Bairstow was stumped seemed to have infuriated some in the exclusive club. The England wicketkeeper-batsman stepped out of his crease after ducking under a Cameron Green bouncer, thinking it was the end of the over. Alert Aussie gloveman Alex Carey under-armed a throw that hit the wicket, and the third umpire ruled Bairstow stumped.
Unusual yes, but well within the Laws of the Game, as formulated by the MCC itself, some of whose members were frothing at the mouth at the application of the same rules. They confronted a few Australians as they made their way through the Long Room, with Usman Khawaja allegedly the recipient of some very unsavoury comments.
Three MCC members were subsequently suspended pending investigation.
“We maintain that the behaviour of a small number of members was completely unacceptable and whilst there was no suggestion by [Australia captain] 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,” said MCC chief executive Guy Lavender.
Broadcast footage showed Khawaja being involved in a verbal altercation with a couple of MCC members, with his opening partner David Warner joining him in the altercation. Khawaja was seen being pulled back by security while Warner was also shown to be making a comment or two. As per some media reports, Khawaja would then point towards one of the members while telling the security, “Make sure you get him kicked out.”
“Some of the stuff coming out of members’ mouths was really disappointing,” Khawaja was further quoted by Channel Nine post-match on Sunday. “I wasn’t going to stand by and cop it. A few of them were throwing out some pretty big allegations and if they kept going, well it’s your membership. I expect a lot better from the members.”
Bad optics
The timing of the controversy couldn’t have been worse for English cricket, and it is not about the possibility of them losing an Ashes series at home after 22 years. It has been no more than a week since the report of the Independent Committee for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) came out with scathing remarks about the English game suffering from racism, sexism and elitism at all levels. The optics of privileged members of the most exclusive club in cricket going after a soft-spoken Muslim player, the first from his religion to play for Australia, could reinforce some stereotypes.
The MCC got into damage-control mode almost immediately, tendering an apology as soon as a complaint came from the Australian camp.
“Further to the earlier statement, MCC can confirm it has suspended three Members identified… 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,” a statement from the club said.
Australian captain Pat Cummins had a premonition that those who had a go at his teammates could have to pay with their MCC membership.
“MCC came and apologised for the behaviour of some of the members,” Cummins said after the 43-run win on Sunday.
“I think some of them might lose their memberships over the way they behaved. Other than that one time, they were fantastic all week. Normally fantastic, really welcoming.
“They were just quite aggressive and abusive towards some of our players, which I know the MCC weren’t too happy with,” he added.
It shows that not all MCC members are aware of the Laws of the Game which, ironically, the club itself drafts. The spectators at Lord’s, who chanted “Same Old Aussies, always cheating,” may be forgiven for not knowing that the appeal and dismissal conformed to the regulations, but the venerables in the Lord’s Long Room ought to have known better.
Stokes said in the aftermath that he wouldn’t want to win in that fashion. England coach Brendan McCullum opined that the Aussies will have to live with the Bairstow stumping and his players will not be having too many beers with their Australian counterparts, even though he himself was once party to a run-out of Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan in a Test match when he stepped out of his crease to congratulate Kumar Sangakkara on reaching a hundred.
The third Test begins on Thursday at Headingley, where the Australians have a chance to clinch the Ashes at the earliest possible opportunity. It can’t come soon enough.
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