Khawaja alleges racial abuse at Lord's during 2023 Ashes

Usman Khawaja has detailed what was said to him in the Long Room at Lord's © Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Usman Khawaja has alleged that he was racially abused by an MCC member in the Lord's Long Room in the aftermath of Jonny Bairstow's controversial dismissal in the 2023 Ashes series.

Footage broadcast by Sky Sports during the second Test showed Khawaja pausing to confront an MCC member as Australia players were booed and verbally abused on their return to the pavilion at the lunch interval on day five. He was then seen stopping again before alerting stewards to another member, and finally heading up the stairs towards the away dressing rooms.

In his autobiography Sabr, published on Tuesday, Khawaja alleges that he was told to "shut up, you Pi", though could not identify for certain which member had said it.

MCC suspended three unnamed members for their "unacceptable behaviour" immediately after the Test match and handed down further punishments four months later after an investigation. One member was expelled from the club, while the other two were banned for four-and-half years and two-and-a-half years respectively.

Khawaja wrote that the members had shown "their true colours" and that they "turned into a pack of privileged drunks" while shouting abuse towards him and his team-mates.

He wrote: "It was like a pack of dogs about to feast on their next meals. They were in unison, swearing, calling us 'F-ing this', and 'F-that', 'C-nts this'. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. At first, I just laughed, mostly in shock.

"Was this the Long Room? Part of the most prestigious, noble cricket club in the world, where the waiting list was over 30 years? Or were we with the Hollies [Edgbaston's notorious party stand]? And no disrespect to the Hollies, because they never treated us like this.

"As we kept walking, I pulled up when someone shouted right into my ear - as there was only a rope and about 20 centimetres between us. 'Don't you dare scream in my ear again, you dickhead,' I said to the first guy. Then as I walked on, and I heard someone else say, 'Shut up, you Pi,' I lost it."

Khawaja added: "I don't know who this was exactly. I want to clarify that I know a few people got bans from the MCC. All I know is I confronted the first bloke I saw, who I thought it was. He was still shouting, spitting and screaming in my face, so I could only assume it was him. I told security, 'Get this guy out of here!'"

MCC declined to comment, but highlighted how seriously they took the matter at the time and the severity of the relevant members' punishments.

Jonny Bairstow's stumping was a flashpoint during the 2023 Ashes © AFP/Getty Images

Khawaja further alleged that another member attempted to trip him and David Warner up as they walked up the stairs towards the dressing room, and said that he had played the incidents down to Australia security manager Frank Dimasi to avoid drawing attention to a potential "distraction" as they pushed for victory on the final day of the Test.

Khawaja said at the time that the abuse from members had been "really disappointing" and "pretty disrespectful", though did not go into further detail. He added in his book that he had later been asked his views on the members' bans by MCC chair Mark Nicholas, and that he told him: "I believe they deserve another chance, as long as they've learned and are remorseful."

Australia ultimately won the second Test by 43 runs, despite Ben Stokes briefly threatening to pull off a miraculous England run chase with 155. They were booed throughout by a raucous Lord's crowd who were incensed by the nature of Bairstow's dismissal, stumped by Alex Carey's underarm throw when he left his crease in the mistaken belief that the ball was dead.

Khawaja described the crowd as "hysterical" before lunch, and "drunk and angry" thereafter. He claimed that his brother-in-law "nearly got into a punch-up" with an England fan, and that his wife, Rachel, was "scared sitting in the stands" and "genuinely worried someone was going to hurt her".

Khawaja's autobiography, which was published on Tuesday, also contains new revelations about the sandpapergate scandal, which have plunged Australian cricket into chaos.