Lord's long room incident: Following Usman Khawaja's confrontation with a spectator at the Lord's long room, Cricket Australia has demanded an investigation into the matter. Australian opener Usman Khawaja was seen in an argument with a spectator in the members' area as Australia made their way back to the pavilion at Lunch on Day 5 of the Test. After Khawaja, David Warner was also in an argument and the incident caught the attention of numerous cricket fans and experts.
"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," Cricket Australia's statement said.
MCC apologises to Cricket Australia
Meanwhile, an MCC spokesperson also opened up on the incident and apologised to Cricket Australia over the altercation. "The Long Room is unique in world cricket and the great privilege of players passing through the Pavilion is very special. After this morning's play, emotions were running high, and words were unfortunately exchanged with some of the Australian team, by a small number of Members," the spokesperson said as quoted by SkySports.
"We have unreservedly apologised to the Australian Team and will deal with any Member who has not maintained the standard we expect through our disciplinary processes. It was not necessary to eject anyone from the ground and I am pleased to say that there was no repeat of this as the players resumed the field for this afternoon's session," he added.
What was the incident about?
The incident took place following a controversial dismissal of England batter Jonny Bairstow, who was out stumped in the ending stages of the first session on Day 5. As he walked out from the crease after the final ball of the 52nd over off Cameron Green, wicket-keeper batter Alex Carey threw the ball and caught him out of the crease. The English crowd booed the Australian team after it and the same frustration might have unfolded to the Australian players.
