Former England skipper David Gower lambasted the MCC members over their abuse of Usman Khawaja and other Australian players over the controversial dismissal of the English wicket-keeper batter Jonny Bairstow at the game’s crucial moment on Lord’s. Gower hailed the Australian opener Khawaja as one of the nicest men in Cricket.
During the break on their way to the pavilion, a few Australian players were abused by the members of MCC, of which Usman Khawaja and David Warner were seen having animated conversations with the members before the security officials separated them on their way to the dressing room.
Sharing his opinion on the incident to SEN’s Sports today, David Gower came down on the MCC member for triggering Usman Khawaja, stating him as one of the nicest men in cricket and recalling the memories of the Australian batter in the previous series, where he played pivotal for Baggy Greens in their victory and also lambasted the members for going against the Australian team
“I found it horribly ironic, and horrible is the keyword, that MCC members were attacking Usman Khawaja, who is the nicest man in cricket. It’s just wrong. I was in Australia for the last Ashes series and I watched him make hundreds there and watched him make his hundreds here as well. First of all, it’s picking on the wrong man. It’s a sort of pack mentality which I don’t like, I absolutely hate,” David Gower said.
After the win against England, Usman Khawaja was not happy with the behaviour of the members as the Lord’s Ground is one of his favourite places to play cricket at. He reckons that a few members in the long room were making some allegations in a disrespectful manner which was not received well by him so he went to talk to a few of them regarding their issue and added that he expected better conduct from the members in the iconic Lord’s ground.
“It was really disappointing. Lord’s is one of my favourite places to come. There’s always respect shown at Lord’s, particularly in the Members Pavilion in the Long Room, but there wasn’t today. It was very disappointing,” Usman Khawaja stated.
English wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow was dismissed bizarrely by Alex Carey at the crucial moment of the game, which sparked a wide range of controversy on and off the field, as the topic of the Spirit of Cricket has emerged once again as the fans and experts being divided by their opinion on the issue.