Eyewitnesses reveal shocking details of members' behaviour towards Australian cricketers at Lord's Long Room

A riveting contest between bat and ball, edge-of-the-seat thrillers, questions over umpiring decisions, controversial dismissals, spirit of the cricket debate, and war of words - England vs Australia Ashes 2023 has had everything and a bit more that a cricket blockbuster can ask for. There has been tension, drama, action, twists and whatnot in the first two Tests of the series so far. While cricket fans across the globe have thoroughly enjoyed the performance dished out by England and Australia cricketers, what transpired at the Lord's Long Room during the Lunch break on Day 5 of the second Test, has left many, including some of the members, in shock.

Moments after Australia keeper Alex Carey stumped England's Jonny Bairstow, who thought that the over was called and the ball was dead, the Australian cricketers started to receive harsh treatment from the Lord's crowd. It continued when the players made their way to the dressing room via the Long Room during the Lunch break.

The Australian cricketers were greeted with "cheat! cheat!" chants by a section of the members and something was also said to Australia batter Usman Khawaja, which he did not like and decided to confront the members. Various videos of what transpired inside the Long Room during that point have gone viral in the last few days.

The Australian team also lodged an official complaint against the members of the Long Room and MCC was quick to respond. It condemned the incident and also took action against three members pending inquiry.

Also Read | ‘When did I…': Ben Stokes' staggering reply to Australia newspaper's ‘crybabies’ jibe for remark on Bairstow dismissal

A couple of days after the incident, eyewitnesses revealed shocking details about the behaviour of the members. According to a report English daily 'The Telegraph', some of the members thought the stewards could have taken precautions well before the Long Room incident happened.

“They should have foreseen what might happen,” asserted one member. “If there were members of the committee available, somebody could have gone into the Long Room and said, ‘Look, you probably are peeved with that sneaky dismissal of Bairstow but please, gentlemen, act with decorum when the players come off’.”

And might that have carried the day? “I think so,” nodded the member, adding: “I was personally very surprised. We have always been, I think, very polite and fair to both sides. It’s a great privilege to belong to the club and we all know how we should behave. It was quite shocking.”

One MCC insider even cited how he had heard other members greet young women who might enter the pavilion with the comment: “Is your boyfriend with you?” The member added: “The key word is entitlement. Some of them think that they are entitled to do what they want without challenge. Given what had happened on the field, and given the booing in the ground, you would have thought there would have been a few more stewards in the Long Room.”

Australia's 'The Age' reported some eyewitnesses felt “disgusted” and “shocked” by some of the language directed at all the Australian players in the Long Room, and to Khawaja in particular.