MCC Suspends 3 Members for Brawl With Aussies on Day 5 of Lord’s Test: Due to their involvement in a contentious argument with Australian players at Lord’s on the fifth day of the second Ashes 2023 Test, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) suspended three members on Sunday.
The incident occurred as the players were leaving for lunch, shortly after the controversial stumping of England keeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow, which led to a hostile atmosphere on the ground. Bairstow’s batsman Alex Carey brought down the stumps.
Usman Khawaja, David Warner, and onlookers got into a fight in the renowned Lord’s Long Room as players entered for lunch, as seen on television.
MCC “unreservedly” apologized for the event in a public statement, which also confirmed the suspension of three members.
The MCC Declaration Stated:
“They [the suspended members] won’t be permitted to come back to Lord’s until an investigation is completed. Although [Australian captain] Pat Cummins did not imply there had been a physical incident in the post-match press conference, we believe that the behavior of a few players was very wrong. It was inappropriate to conduct. This goes against the club’s core principles.
The Statement Added:
“MCC condemns the conduct observed and once more reiterates our apologies to Cricket Australia,” it said.
Despite captain Ben Stokes’ outstanding 155-run innings, England ultimately lost the Lord’s Test by 43 runs because they were unable to chase down 371.
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The things the members were saying were incredibly disappointing. – Khawaja on the exchange from Lord’s Long Room
Khawaja, an Australian who spoke about the incident, described the members’ behavior as extremely disappointing.
The left-handed batsman, who listed Lord’s as one of his favorite grounds, said that he would not respond to the criticisms leveled at him as they went for lunch.
Khawaja explained the long room exchange to Channel 9 by Saying:
“It was very discouraging. One of my favorite places to visit is Lord’s. At Lord’s, especially in the Members Pavilion in the Long Room, respect is always shown, but not today. It was incredibly depressing. I would always recommend Lord’s if someone asked where the best spot to play is.
Khawaja went on to say.
“The crowd is great, especially the members, but some of what they were saying was really disappointing, and I wasn’t just going to take it,” the crowd member said. I thus only spoke with a handful of them.
Australia has a 2-0 lead in the five-match series and will try to win the Ashes in 2023 when they play England in the third Test, which begins on Thursday at Headingley.