New footage shows moment Australian cricketers are HISSED at and branded ‘cheats’ by MCC members after Bairstow row
VIDEO footage has emerged of MCC members HISSING at Australia players after Johnny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal.
Members felt the Aussies had gone against the spirit of the game by stumping the batsman after he ventured from his crease thinking the ball was dead.
They made their feelings known when the Australia team returned to the pavilion for lunch, with members captured hissing and booing.
Loud cries of “cheats” also rang out but the Aussies did not appear to be affected by the hostility.
Captain Pat Cummins had a wry smile on his face as he walked up the stairs, though David Warner and Usman Khawaja stopped to respond to members with the latter unhappy with some of the comments he heard.
The batsman said he was disappointed at some of the allegations being made by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) members.
The MMC responded to the incident by apologising for members’ behaviour and handed out suspensions to three members.
Cummins was also critical of the treatment of his team-mates and felt some members deserved to be suspended.
He said: “The MCC came and apologised for the behaviour of some of the members. I think some of them might lose their membership over the way they behaved.
“Other than that one time, they were fantastic all week. The members here are normally fantastic and really welcoming.
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“Something special about playing at Lord’s is you feel like you’re at a really special place surrounded by people who just share a love of the game.”
Australia won the Second Test by 43 runs despite England captain Ben Stokes hitting 155 runs in his second innings.
After the game Stokes said he would never have claimed Bairstow’s wicket, explaining: “Jonny was in his crease, the out of his crease to come down and have the chat.
“I’m not disputing the fact that it is out because it is out. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no.
“When is it justified that the umpires have called over? Is the on-field umpires making movement, is that enough to call over? I’m not sure.
“If the shoe was on the other foot I would have put more pressure on the umpires and asked whether they had called over.
“And I’d have had a deep think about the whole spirit of the game and would I want to do something like that.”