A day after MCC announced it has suspended three members following a complaint from Cricket Australia, a new footage has emerged that shows Usman Khawaja being repeatedly singled out for abuse at Lord’s Long Room before he pointed out to an official to take the member’s name.
The incident occurred during the lunch break as players were making their way to the dressing room through the member’s area at the Lord’s after the first session on Day 5 of the 2nd Test between England and Australia came to an end.
The controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow was the trigger behind the ugly scenes as Australian players were booed and chants of ‘cheat’ rang around the venue.
Australia went on to beat England by 43 runs in a thrilling finish to take 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
According to a report in The Age, while it’s not clear what exactly was said to Khawaja, the England Cricket Board sources have denied that the investigation into the behaviour is related to racial abuse.
The earlier footage showed Khawaja stopping midway to remonstrate with the members before being joined by his opening partner David Warner.
The publication further quoted witnesses as saying that they were “disgusted" and “shocked" by the language directed by some members at the Australian players in the Long Room.
While not revealing what was said to him, Khawaja did say that it was ‘disrespectful’.
“Some of the stuff that was coming out of the members’ mouths was really disappointing, and I wasn’t just going to stand by and cop it," Khawaja said.
“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, and they kept going. 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," he added.
Comments
0 comment