![Usman Khawaja shares shocking details [Source: AFP]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1794317719974_UsmanKhawajaforAustralia.jpg?type=hq)
Usman Khawaja shares shocking details [Source: AFP]
Usman Khawaja has revisited one of the most heated moments of the 2023 Ashes, alleging that he was racially abused by a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord’s.
The former Australia opener has detailed the confrontation in his newly released autobiography Sabr, recalling the hostility players faced as they left the field following Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal.
Khawaja has also described the behaviour of some spectators and shared further claims about Australia’s 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Usman Khawaja recalls racial abuse during Lord’s long room incident
The incident took place during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s in 2023, shortly after England batter Jonny Bairstow was stumped by Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
The dismissal sparked a heated reaction from the Lord’s crowd, with television footage showing Khawaja and David Warner exchanging words with spectators as the Australian players headed towards the dressing room for lunch.
The confrontation inside the Long Room became a major talking point, prompting the MCC to take disciplinary action against three members. However, Usman Khawaja has now offered a more personal account of what happened that day. In his autobiography, he claimed that after asking one member not to shout at him, another individual directed a racial slur at him.
"We didn't realise what was waiting for us in the Long Room. Unfortunately, the MCC members in the room that day showed their true colours," Khawaja said.
"All of us always talked so highly of the MCC members, who were usually the kindest, most gentle, cricket-loving members in the world. You could get a hundred or a duck and they'd clap you as you walked off, all the same. It was a pleasure to be amongst them.
"And it still is, but that day made us think maybe they aren't so different to the rest. Because when cricket, and the Lord's cricket ground, needed their civility the most, they turned into a pack of privileged drunks, barking at us from a metre away.
"It was like a pack of dogs about to feast on their next meals. They were in unison, swearing. I couldn't believe what I was hearing," Khawaja said.
Khawaja reveals horrific trauma in Lord’s Long Room
Khawaja also recalled an incident on the stairs, claiming that a member spat and shouted at him while another attempted to trip him and Warner as they made their way towards the dressing room.
"[He was] sticking his leg out, so we'd fall on the steps. Davey told him off first, so I didn't think the bloke would do it again. But as I went to walk upstairs, he tried to do it to me too!
"At the top of the stairs, I saw a whole bunch of members waiting for us near the change-room. I looked at them with a smile of shock, put my arms in the air, and said, 'Is this Lord's or the zoo?'" Khawaja said.
Nevertheless, for the unaware, Khawaja retired from international cricket in January 2026 after a career that saw him score 6,229 runs in 88 Test matches for Australia.
