By Zainab Shafiq 
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has taken decisive action in response to the altercations between its members and Australian players during the second Test at Lord’s. Following clashes between three members and Usman Khawaja and David Warner in the Long Room, the MCC has suspended the individuals involved.
The incident occurred after a controversial stumping of England’s Jonny Bairstow by Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey. The MCC issued a statement expressing their unreserved apology to the Australian cricket team and confirmed that the suspended members would not be allowed back to Lord’s during the investigation.
In their statement, the MCC emphasized their stance on the unacceptable behavior exhibited by a few members, which contradicted the club’s values. They condemned the witnessed behavior and reiterated their apology to Cricket Australia.
“They will not be permitted back to Lord’s whilst the investigation takes place,” it added. “We maintain that the behavior of a small number of members was completely unacceptable and whilst there was no suggestion by [Australia captain] 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 behavior witnessed, and once again we re-iterate our apology to Cricket Australia.”
Both Khawaja and Australian captain Pat Cummins expressed disappointment with the conduct of MCC members. Khawaja highlighted that Lord’s is usually a place of respect, particularly in the members’ pavilion, but that the behavior exhibited by some members was disrespectful and disappointing.
“Lord’s is one of my favorite places to come,” said Usman Khawaja. “There’s always respect shown at Lord’s, particularly in the members’ pavilion in the Long Room, but there wasn’t today. Some of the stuff that was coming out of the members’ mouths is really disappointing and I wasn’t just going to stand by and cop it. 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 I was like, well, this is your membership here. It’s pretty disrespectful, to be honest. I just expect a lot better from the members.”
Cummins confirmed that the MCC had apologized for the members’ behavior and stated that they might face consequences, including potential loss of membership. He praised the MCC for their overall welcoming attitude but stressed that the aggressive and abusive behavior towards the players was not acceptable.
Australia captain Pat Cummins added, “MCC came and apologized for the behavior of some of the members. I think some of them might lose their memberships over the way they behaved. Other than that one time, they were fantastic all week. Normally fantastic, really welcoming. They were just quite aggressive and abusive towards some of our players, which I know the MCC weren’t too happy with.”
It should be noted that Australia had requested the MCC to investigate the incident, and Cummins acknowledged the club’s response to address the matter. Currently, Australia holds a 2-0 lead in the five-match Ashes series after winning the first two encounters.