Itâs the Convict blood. They just canât suppress it. That Sandpaper crew should all have got life bans after they were caught in Cape Town in 2018.
Well played 
Warney was the most perceptive man in cricket. The greatest cricketing mind of the generation, and an Aussie to his bones. Himself and Richie Benaud and Michael Holding and Michael Atherton are the most valuable opinions in the game.
Itâs interesting to go back over the audit trail to March 2018 when 7 of the Australian team at Lords yesterday were embroiled in one of the worst cheating scandals in the history of test cricket in Cape Town. The same apologists from March 2018 are still backing this reprehensible lot over 5 years on.
Maybe Cricket Australia should summon their âHead of Integrityâ again to sort things out.
Can someone explain to me what the fuck the English are so cross over?
The spirit of cricket has been damaged
Basically, itâs like a child in a schoolyard game saying âThatâs not fair, I wasnât readyâ.
3 Likes
Yeah, bunty Duckett should have walked after that clean catch.
Anger, shame and bewilderment: MCC membersâ mood 24 hours after Long Room chaos
Chief executive criticised for lack of foresight as behaviour of members towards Australia adds to list of controversies
ByJeremy Wilson, CHIEF SPORTS REPORTER4 July 2023 ⢠7:34am
Incredible scenes: MCC members and the Australian Test team exchange words CREDIT: Sky Sports Cricket
âWhat surprised me was that it wasnât better policed, especially given the military career of the chief executive,â reflected one member of Marylebone Cricket Club, before adding: âI mean, he can sort out Afghanistan but he canât sort out the Long Room.â
It was the day after the lunchtime before and, with the Prime Minister even having had his say, the mood among MCC members was still a heady cocktail of simmering anger, outrage, shame, remorse, bewilderment and, belatedly, even some measure of humour.
Not since Ian Botham was shunned as he made his way back to the Lordâs Long Room following a second consecutive duck against Australia back in 1981 have sportâs most famous blazers delivered a verdict even remotely so venomous.
This, though, was still quite different; aggressive and vocal rather than icy and silent, reflecting an uncontained fury at the perceived injustice. Cries of âCheat, cheat, cheat, cheat!â were intersected with shouts of, âsandpaper!â in reference to the ball-tampering scandal that saw Steve Smith and David Warner banned from cricket for a year.
One witness claimed that a member of the Australian party was âeffing and jeffingâ at all the boos and jeers even before the confrontation in the Long Room.
So should Guy Lavender, MCCâs chief executive and formerly a respected Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment who led operations in Iraq, the Balkans and Northern Ireland, as well as Afghanistan, really have taken some preemptive action?
Lordâs Long Room altercation between MCC member and Australian team CREDIT: Sky Sports Cricket
âThey should have foreseen what might happen,â asserted one member. âIf there were members of the committee available, somebody could have gone into the Long Room and said, âLook, you probably are peeved with that sneaky dismissal of Bairstow but please, gentlemen, act with decorum when the players come offâ.â
And might that have carried the day? âI think so,â nodded the member, adding: âI was personally very surprised. We have always been, I think, very polite and fair to both sides. Itâs a great privilege to belong to the club and we all know how we should behave. It was quite shocking.â
Others were less willing to give fellow members the benefit of the doubt and claimed that offensive behaviour was not uncommon. âIn order to get a job as a steward, you have to be stone deaf so you donât hear anything,â said one MCC insider, citing how he had heard other members greet young women who might enter the pavilion with the comment: âIs your boyfriend with you?â The member added: âThe key word is entitlement. Some of them think that they are entitled to do what they want without challenge. Given what had happened on the field, and given the booing in the ground, you would have thought there would have been a few more stewards in the Long Room.â
Lavender defended the stewards. âWe have dedicated, knowledgeable and friendly stewards throughout the pavilion,â he told Telegraph Sport. âTheir commitment to their roles should be applauded and that âbetter policingâ is referenced says more about the behaviour of a small number of members versus the role expected of the stewards.
âIn the pavilion and across the ground MCC staff delivered a brilliant Ashes Test match and weâre sad to be discussing poor behaviour of a few versus the great sporting endeavours that were on show.â
As it was, the situation was dealt with swiftly enough to at least avoid any repeat later in the day.
Three MCC members have been suspended and, although no one was ejected from the ground, an email soon went out and Lavender also took the rare lunchtime step of directly addressing members. âThe Long Room is unique in world cricket and the great privilege of players passing through the pavilion is very special,â the email said. âAfter this morningâs play, emotions were running high, and words were unfortunately exchanged with some of the Australian team by a small number of members. 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.â
Australiaâs Usman Khawaja subsequently called the comments âdisrespectfulâ while one Australian newspaper dressed England captain Ben Stokes up in a nappy and declared that the âPoms take whingeing to a new level with âcheatingâ drivelâ.
The speed of the suspensions certainly reverberated through Lordâs. âI think the fact that they have been suspended before they have been found guilty is a bit draconian,â said one member. âA disciplinary procedure can take several months. I just hope for their sakes that they were not one of those that paid ÂŁ45,000 to be life members.â
That was in reference to MCCâs current 29-year waiting list and how some new members have been admitted rather more speedily if they are prepared to pay.
The wider backdrop was already a week of some turbulence at Lordâs.
An independent report into discrimination in English cricket had recommended that the Eton v Harrow and Varsity fixtures be discontinued and be replaced by a national finalsâ days for mixed state school U15 competitions and menâs and womenâs university teams. The England womenâs team have never played a Test match at Lordâs. An attempt only last year to discontinue the Eton v Harrow and Varsity matches failed following a membersâ revolt and the England & Wales Cricket Board have finally scheduled an England womenâs match at Lordâs in 2026.
An internal dispute also continues after Chris Waterman had his membership suspended and was prevented from attending the Lordâs Test after he had complained about president Stephen Fry and his allegedly offensive remarks at a cricketersâ dinner earlier this year.
Waterman has since threatened legal action over his treatment. Lavender previously described Watermanâs account as âfactually incorrect and without contextâ while MCC said that âall disciplinary matters involving members are of a confidential natureâ.
TFKs barmy army are in a right strop over it
2 Likes
A few of the suits couldnât handle their Pimms by the sound of it
2 Likes
Something like maybe a lad running onto a pass back and sticking it into the net after play was stopped for an injury maybe but not nearly as bad as that either
I absolutely love how the Aussies as an entire nation, press and all refer to them as âpomsâ
Is it unique? Yanks is similar I suppose but seems less disrespectful
1 Like
Very ugly scenes.
That jacket is particularly ugly
2 Likes
Any Islamophobia there with Khawaja seemingly singled out for the harshest abuse?
The MCC has brought cricket into disrepute.
1 Like
The Tory gammons in the Long Room donât like being outsmarted by Johnny Foreigner.