Names of members of the Lord’s Long Room, dress code, membership cost, and the incident of the brawl revealed: The second Ashes Test is making headlines for a variety of reasons, here’s who’s in the Long Room at Lord’s and the names of the members.
The events of the second Ashes Test attracted widespread media attention for a few different reasons. First, the verbal and alleged physical abuse the Australian players received on their way back to the locker room after lunch on the final day was appalling.
Second, the atrocity took place at a place notorious for its prestige, opulence, and old-school manners. Of course, the red and yellow “eggs and bacon” tie and blazer. The Long Room at Lord’s may not sound familiar to a casual cricket fan. what is it exactly? On the first floor of the Members’ Pavilion (built around 1890) in London’s famous grounds, there is an iconic area called The Long Room.
The Long Room was built in 1934 and is ornately furnished, representing more than a century of history. Paintings of notable cricketers and administrators from the 18th to 21st centuries line the walls, with Australians Don Bradman, Keith Miller, Victor Trumper, and Shane Warne being among the few foreigners whose likenesses are immortalized there.
However, the path that players from both teams have to cross each time they enter or leave the ground provides easy access to the wealthy members of the Marylebone Cricket Club as they partake of G&Ts, Pimms, and lemonades. It is unique in the world of cricket because of this feature.
The MCC has a “smart casual” dress code, but males are required to wear collared shirts at all times. In the larger rooms, however, they are exempt from wearing a jacket and tie.
It is quite exclusive and typically has elderly, wealthy people as members. Prior to 1999, no women other than Queen Elizabeth II were permitted entry to the Long Room or the Pavilion due to the MCC’s gender-based membership criterion. Tony Lewis, the president of the MCC, observed that she had nearly won when it first accepted women. 18 000 participants “It was like a sailing ship turning 180 degrees”
To become a full member of the MCC, you must be nominated by another member and go through an interview process. Associate membership is available, but according to the club website, there is a 29-year waiting list and it costs £500 ($955) a year. But if you have the cash, you may always enter. According to a 2020 story in Tatler magazine, Priti Patel reportedly spent £45,000 ($88,200) for a lifetime membership. She served as the country’s home secretary at the time.
Every time players enter the room at the start of play, at stumps, on their way out to bat, or upon their return after being dismissed, there is typically polite applause instead of the extreme insults the Australian side on Sunday received.
It is easy to establish what it is not once you know what it is. The aggressive chants and yelled insults from well-dressed men who on Sunday resembled Caxton Street in Brisbane on State of Origin night, the fans in the former Bay 13 at the MCG, or Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, also known as The Bullring, are not what makes it so offensive; rather, it is the sportsmanship, integrity, and respect it stands for.
As the Australians entered the room, the crowd erupted in cheers and chants of “Traitor!” and “Shame on you, shame on you!” cheats! Participants call out “Cheats!” In response, clapped hands slowly. Each player wearing the baggy green was shouted at as they walked through the long room and up the stairs to the locker room. The Australians are said to have been aggressively harassed by some members of the MCC.
Usman Khawaja, the opener, got into an argument with a bystander over some comments he had made, with David Warner sticking by him. As he was being led away, Khawaja was overheard urging a steward, “Make sure you get him kicked out explicitly.
Former Middlesex and England captain Andrew Strauss noted that the crowd on day five seemed to be less elite than it had been on days one through four. And where do the crimson and yellow of the club come from? Although no one is certain, the MCC website suggests that “colors were borrowed from the wandering [cricket] club I Zingari [‘The Gipsies’ in Italian], who were founded in 1845 and shared many members with the MCC.”
The club was established during a match in 1845 in which the players celebrated a victory over Harrow with a “substantial amount of claret,” according to Richard Penruddocke Long, one of the founding members. That might be the most appropriate name.