Ashes' Short Fuses Shatter Monastic Calm Of Lord's Long Room

It has been described as "the most evocative four walls in world cricket" and somewhere to watch the game in an atmosphere of almost monastic calm, far from the madding crowd. Yet the usually tranquil Long Room at Lord's became a seething cauldron of hate on Sunday as Marylebone Cricket Club members abused Australia players returning from the field during a lunch break on the last day of the second Ashes Test following the controversial dismissal of England's Jonny Bairstow.

They, and spectators around the ground, were incensed by an incident where Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw the ball at the stumps after Bairstow walked out of his crease after ducking under a Cameron Green bouncer.

Bairstow seemingly believed the ball was dead at the end of the over but, following a referral by his colleagues in the middle, TV umpire Marais Erasmus confirmed the batsman had been stumped.

The usually sedate crowd at the 'Home of Cricket' responded by chanting "Same old Aussies, always cheating" while boos rang around the famous old venue in northwest London for several minutes.

Australia, despite a stunning 155 from England captain Ben Stokes, eventually won the match by 43 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match Ashes series.

'Unreserved apology'

An embarrassed MCC later issued an "unreserved apology" to the touring side, with club secretary Guy Lavender adding three members "directly involved" in the lunchtime flare-up had been suspended immediately pending an investigation.

Lord's had seen nothing quite like it since the 1980 Centenary Test between England and Australia, when umpire David Constant was manhandled on his way into the pavilion by members angry at a lack of play following several rain delays.

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