File image of Jonny Bairstow and Travis Head© AFP
The ongoing Ashes has been closely fought so far. After Australia won the first two tests, England won the third Test. The fourth Test of the five-match series starts in Manchester on Wednesday. Before the match, Australia batter Usman Khawaja opened up on the rough treatment that they have been getting from the English crowd. Since England star batter Jonny Bairstow was controversially stumped by Alex Carey off Cameron Green‘s bowling, first the Australian players were confronted in the Lord’s long room, then in the third test too, the visitors were booed at Leeds. The aggressive behaviour has been criticised by Usman Khawaja.
“Personally, if I am coming to the cricket and watching the cricket, I wouldn’t want my kids to be around that,” Khawaja was quoted as saying byESPN Cricinfo.
“If I saw that I would 100 percent make a complaint or just leave. I think some of the stuff can be pretty poor. Over at Edgbaston, they were calling Travis Head a c… you know what. I’m like I can’t believe you can actually say that in a public domain anywhere.”
Khawaja added that a lot of the English fans said that they are ‘rough’ in Australia too.
“If you talk about it to England guys, they say we are equally as rough when [they go to Australia]. I don’t agree with it either way. I don’t think it’s the right thing to do,” Khawaja said.
“It can be a little disappointing at times, and I think we can take it too far in Australia. I’m not a big fan of it. I know watching a lot of sport and loving sport that it happens around the world. You watch the NBA [and] it happens there. Particularly when crowds can get real close to you, which they can in cricket. It is what it is, I don’t agree with it.”
Topics mentioned in this article