Three MCC members have been suspended after Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed his team experienced “aggressive and abusive” behaviour in the Long Room on the last day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.
A flashpoint occurred on the eve of lunch on day five when Jonny Bairstow was dismissed in controversial fashion, after Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw the ball at the stumps at the conclusion of Cameron Green’s over.
Bairstow had already left his crease to speak with Ben Stokes, under the impression it was a dead ball with the over finished, but was given out and it saw the Lord’s crowd respond with hostility towards the tourists.
Boos greeted the Australians when they left the pitch at lunch and television cameras picked up an exchange in the Long Room between MCC members and both Usman Khawaja and David Warner with security forced to step in.
“Further to the earlier statement, MCC can confirm it has suspended three Members identified from earlier today,” an MCC statement read.
“They will not be permitted back to Lord’s whilst the investigation takes place and were informed of this by MCC Chief Executive, Guy Lavender, this evening.
“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.
“We are thoroughly disappointed to be talking about poor behaviour when the Long Room, as stated by Pat Cummins himself, is otherwise renowned for being “really welcoming”. It has been a thrilling day to finish off a wonderful five days of Test cricket.”
Despite the unsavoury incident ahead of lunch on the final day, Cummins does not want the tradition of walking past the members to end.
“The crowd certainly made themselves known, in the Long Room and also out there,” Cummins reflected after Australia won by 43 runs to move 2-0 up in the series.
“I think they were just quite aggressive and abusive towards some of our players, which I know the MCC were not too happy with.
“Other than that one time, they were fantastic all week. The members here are normally fantastic, really welcoming.
“Something special about playing at Lord’s is you feel like you are at a really special place surrounded by people who have a love for the game. I quite like the tradition.
“I don’t think it hurts any more than normal. I think just standards that are held by the members are maybe a bit different to what you expect from certain members of the crowd at Edgbaston.
“To quote Smithy (Steve Smith), it felt like a normal day.”
Cummins did not see the alleged physical contract which a Cricket Australia spokesperson referenced.
“Australian management has requested the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) investigate several incidents involving spectators in the members’ area during lunch on day five of the Lord’s Test,” the spokesperson said.
“It is alleged players and staff from the Australian team were verbally abused, with some being physically contacted, as they made their way to lunch through the members’ area.”
England captain Stokes was not asked specifically about the exchange in the Long Room, but did enjoy hearing the Lord’s crowd, known as one of the most politest sporting venues in the world, boo the tourists’ for most of day five.
He admitted: “It was pretty mad, wasn’t it? It wasn’t until I got out and went on the balcony to watch the remaining half-an-hour, I thought I had never heard Lord’s like this.
“At the back end of the Test match it reminded me of the World Cup final in 2019.
“It was good to see Lord’s, a ground that has not got a reputation for atmosphere or noise, like that. Today was one of the days where Lord’s showed up.”
IPL: Fraser-McGurk leads the way as Capitals hold off Mumbai
Delhi Capitals withstood Mumbai Indian’s late surge and held on for a 10-run victory at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Jake Fraser-McGurk top-scored with 84 – hitting 50 off just 15 balls – while Tristan Stubbs (48) and Shai Hope (41) also chipped in with important contributions as the Capitals set a target of 258.
Mukesh Kumar (3/59) and Rasikh Salam (3/34) did their best to halt Mumbai’s revival, but they turned up the pressure to require 25 runs from the final over.
However, despite Luke Wood and Piyush Chawla’s best efforts, Delhi held out for a second successive win.
Data debrief
Wood almost made amends after conceding 68 runs during the opening innings – the joint-most in the IPL this season, matching Reece Topley’s tally against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Tilak Varma led Mumbai’s attempted revival with 63 for his sixth half-century in the IPL, though they have all come in defeats
Chase outdone by opposite number Paudel as West Indies A suffer four-wicket loss to Nepal
West Indies A’s tour of Nepal got off to an unfortunate start, after they suffered a four-wicket loss to their host in a high scoring opening fixture of their five-match Twenty20 series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, on Saturday.
Set a formidable 204 by West Indies A, Nepal’s thrilling victory, which was set up by a captain’s knock from Rohit Paudel, etched their names in the history books, as they successfully got to their target at 206-6 with two balls to spare.
Paudel smashed a 54-ball 112, including 10 fours and two sixes to see his team to a 1-0 lead in the series, which West Indies Head coach Darren Sammy said offers his team a chance to define roles and personnel more clearly for their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad.
However, the Caribbean side’s all-round effort was found wanting, as only captain Roston Chase (74), Alick Athanaze (47) and Keacy Carty (38) offered any resistance with the bat, while only Obed McCoy (2-34) and Matthew Forde (2-49) had some semblance of success with the ball.
Scores: West Indies A 204-5 (20 overs); Nepal 206-6 (19.4 overs)
Asked to take first strike, after losing the toss, West Indies A suffered an early blow, as they lost Johnson Charles (zero) off the last ball of the opening over, with 16 runs on the board. Andre Fletcher (13) stuck two sixes off five balls, before he too departed via the run-out route, leaving West Indies A at 43-2 in the fourth over.
However, Athanaze went about business, striking three sixes and five fours in a 25-ball knock, as he put on 43 for the third wicket with Chase, prior to his demise. From there, Chase and Carty added another 60 runs in a fourth-wicket stand that defined the innings.
Carty’s 38 off 26 balls, included two fours and three sixes, while Chase, who anchored the innings with a captain’s knock, struck nine fours and two sixes in his 46-ball 74. Kadeem Alleyne, on 14, and Keemo Paul, one, were left not out.
No Nepal bowler took more than one wicket.
With runs on the board, West Indies A would have felt confident of wrapping up a win, even more so, after Forde and McCoy combined to remove openers Anil Sah (five) and Kushal Bhurtel (16) to have Nepal at 38-2 in the fifth over.
West Indies remained in the ascendancy when Fletcher and Charles combined to run out Kushal Malla (16), leaving their host on the ropes at 82-3 at the halfway mark.
However, Paudel showed class, in not only reviving his team’s innings, but pushed them all the way with some aggressive stroke play, assisted by wayward bowling from West Indies A attack at times. Dipendra Singh Airee (24) offered support to his captain in getting Nepal across the line for a famous victory.
Bairstow hails 'ballistic' Kings after record IPL run chase
Jonny Bairstow saluted "ballistic" Punjab Kings following their historic Indian Premier League victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.
The England batter scored an unbeaten century as the Kings successfully chased down 262 - the highest in T20 history - with eight balls to spare at Eden Gardens.
Bairstow hit a wonderful 108 not out from 48 balls - with nine sixes along the way - while Shashank Singh chipped in with 68 from 28 deliveries as the Kings ended their four-game losing streak.
"We knew that we had to go ballistic after how they batted," said the 34-year-old, who made his second IPL century five years after his first. "We had to take risks, and thankfully they came off.
"I've never been faced with a target like that before. So, we knew the powerplay would be important, and if anything is close to being in your area, you've got to make the most of it."
The performances of Bairstow and Singh contributed towards further history, with the overall tally of 42 sixes the highest recorded in a single T20 match.
"Cricket has turned to baseball, hasn't it?!" Punjab skipper Sam Curran added. "Guys can hit balls for long periods of time, the coaches, training, the dew, dot balls become wide after reviews and you get the extra ball. Stats are going of the window."
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer was left disappointed to see his side's impressive haul overturned, but urged his team-mates to learn from the experience.
"Both teams played tremendously. You have to go back to the drawing board and see where you went wrong," he said. "Not defending hurts, but it's a great lesson for the players."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
