Fresh footage from Lord’s Long Room has emerged, revealing that Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja was subjected to abuse by MCC members as he and other players climb up the stairs to their dressing room on day five of the second Ashes Test.
The controversial dismissal of England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow on the fifth day of the second Ashes Test ignited the home crowd, leading to boos and chants of “same old Aussies, always cheating” towards the Australian players throughout the rest of the game.
Things took an ugly turn 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.
In the footage that was out in the public domain earlier, Usman Khawaja and David Warner were seen confronting one of the abusive members in the Long Room.
New footage recorded on a mobile showed how Usman Khawaja was a target in the Long Room, leading to him confronting a member and calling security.
Usman Khawaja can be seen stopping and pointing out one of the members to security as he is going up the stairs.
The video – which was shared with Australian media – was from a different angle from the one that was broadcast live during the game.
The left-handed batter himself has come out and spoken about the incident, saying that he was “disappointed by some of the stuff that came out of the member’s mouths.”
Speaking to international media, he said: “The Lord’s crowd is great, particularly the members are great, but some of the stuff coming out of the members’ mouths was really disappointing.
“I wasn’t 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,” he said.
In the aftermath of the incident, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) took strict action and suspended its three members.
The MCC released a statement and apologised “unreservedly” to the Australian cricket team.
“MCC can confirm it has suspended three Members identified from earlier today. They will not be permitted back to Lord’s whilst the investigation takes place,” said MCC in a press release.
“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.
“MCC condemns the behaviour witnessed and once again we re-iterate our apology to Cricket Australia.”
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