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London: The Marylebone Cricket Club has expelled a member at the centre of the altercations with Australian players at Lord’s during the second Ashes Test in July following a months-long investigation.
Two other members involved have also been suspended with the individuals unlikely to be able to appeal against the decision.
The scenes followed English batter Jonny Bairstow’s controversial stumping on the final day of Australia’s 43-run victory. The players were booed loudly as they went through the Long Room to lunch, and David Warner and Usman Khawaja appeared to remonstrate with members.
Khawaja was captured on video footage calling out the behaviour of individual spectators at Lord’s.
“A few of them [were] throwing out some pretty big allegations and I just called them up on it, and they kept going,” Khawaja said at the time. “And if they kept going 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.”
In a statement, the MCC said the men were all found to have used “abusive, offensive or inappropriate behaviour or language” with one member given a four-and-a-half-year suspension and the other serving 30 months.
“The actions of the three individuals in the pavilion on the day in question fell well below the behaviour expected from our members,” the club said.
Based at Lord’s, which it owns, the MCC acts as custodian and arbiter of the laws and spirit of cricket.
Australia’s Usman Khawaja has a quiet word to members inside the Long Room.Credit: Nine
Australia had asked the MCC to investigate, initially saying players had been “physically contacted” as well as verbally abused.
Australian captain Patrick Cummins later accused the men of behaving like “pork chops”.
This masthead reported at the time there was a high degree of anger among the wider MCC constituency about the incident, at a time when the culture of entitlement in English cricket is under the spotlight as a result of a damning report into diversity issues.
Bruce Carnegie-Brown, the MCC chairman, said at the time the incidents “had brought shame on the MCC” and that new measures would be immediately brought in, pending a full review of the protocols for the way members can interact with players.
In an email to members, he wrote: “The Pavilion at Lord’s provides a unique experience, but we must recognise that as it stands this special atmosphere is at risk, both for players and members.
“The walk out of the Pavilion and towards the pitch is valued by players and members alike. The club will be taking a tougher stance on the general behaviour of members. We expect members not only to heed the words of our stewards in this regard, but to police one another’s behaviour.“
More to come
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