'Shut up you P****' - Usman Khawaja reveals racial abuse by Lord's member during 2023 Ashes

Australian batter Usman Khawaja has alleged that an MCC member directed a racial slur at him as the Australian team walked through the Lord's Long Room on July 2, 2023, during day five of the second Ashes Test. The allegation appears in his newly published book 'Sabr' and marks the first time Khawaja has publicly named the racist abuse he says he experienced that day.

The atmosphere in the Long Room had already turned hostile following Alex Carey's controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow. Khawaja described MCC members shouting in unison at the Australian players as they walked through to the lunch break, with abuse including 'F***ing this' and 'F***ing that' directed at the touring side.

"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? (infamous Edgbaston 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. It got worse," Khawaja wrote in Sabr.

Khawaja described being separated from the member by only a rope and approximately 20 centimetres when the racial slur was shouted directly into his ear. He confronted the first person he saw, acknowledging in the book that he could not be entirely certain of the exact individual responsible. Camera footage from the time captured Khawaja in the middle of the confrontation as boos rang out and shouts of 'absolute disgrace' echoed through the pavilion.

Following a four-month investigation, the MCC announced sanctions against three members. One received a ban of two and a half years, a second was banned for four and a half years, and the most serious offender was expelled from the club for life.

Khawaja also revealed that a member of the Australian coaching staff's child was brought to tears by the hostility that day, and his brother-in-law came close to a physical altercation. His wife Rachel feared for her safety, with Khawaja writing, "For the first time in her life she was genuinely worried that someone was going to hurt her". He also alleged that some members attempted to trip him and David Warner from behind the dividing rope.

What did Khawaja say about the Bairstow stumping and the Long Room confrontation?

Khawaja provided a detailed account of how the Bairstow dismissal unfolded on the field before the Long Room scenes erupted. He wrote that Pat Cummins signalled to Carey with a mime of an underarm throw, and Carey immediately understood. The next delivery was a bouncer, and the moment the ball reached Carey's gloves, he underarmed it to the stumps. Bairstow, who had a habit of leaving his crease, walked out at precisely that moment and was given out.

Bairstow protested to the Australians, asking whether they were seriously going to claim the wicket. Khawaja recalled responding:

"I said to the first guy. Then as I walked on, and I heard someone else say," before the situation in the Long Room escalated further. When the slur was directed at him, "I lost it. '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'," Khawaja wrote further.

Khawaja also noted in the book that Bairstow had previously attempted a similar dismissal against Marnus Labuschagne in the first innings of the same match, "Jonny, you literally tried to do the same thing to Marnus in the first innings!" The book further recalls that Khawaja had not fully understood how offensive the word used against him was until 2010, when a UK customs official reacted with shock after Khawaja used a similar abbreviation at an airport.