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“I don't think I've ever seen a group of grown men… This guy was foaming at the mouth,” says Labuschagne. “A guy kicked 'Bull' [David Warner] when he went up the stairs.
“Nearly missed a fight in the dining room. Jonny came in hot. He says 'You're happy with it', and 'Bull' says 'Yes, very much'. Fantastic priceless.”
After speaking with head coach Andrew McDonald, Cummins reflects on the stress and atmosphere on his teammates.
“There was nothing cheeky about it, I literally had the ball, roll it backwards,” he says, before being asked if any choice words were exchanged on the pitch.
“[Stuart] A broad saying: “Unfortunately mate, this is what you'll be remembered for.” I can't believe you did that'. And I say, “Oh, Broady, because you're such an upstanding fellow citizen, aren't you?” He's like, 'Listen to the crowd mate, listen to the crowd' and I'm like, 'Yeah, they're not my mates mate.'
Later, he tells the filmmakers that this would be his indelible memory of the game. “Going back to the long hall, that's how I'll always remember the Lord's Test match,” he says. “It was like we ripped their soul out.”
Australian opener Usman Khawaja walks past members inside Lord's famous long hall after a heated encounter on day five of the second Ashes Test. Members of the MCC hurled insults at Australia's players, for whom three members have now been suspended, as they entered the wards before the lunch break following the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow.Credit: new
After lunch, as the Aussies return to the field and absorb a furious innings from Ben Stokes to win the Test and go up 2-0 (an Ashes-sealing lead as it turned out), Carey reveals that Cummins specifically told the players that don't play to the crowd in their post-match celebrations.
“We won the Test Match and, to Patty's credit, she basically said to the group, 'You don't have to be idiots with the crowd, it's about us,'” says Carey.
As for the subsequent furore over the spirit of cricket, a conversation sparked by Stokes and England manager Brendon McCullum, Lyon is terse: “It's a load of shit. It's a surprise, it goes out every day of the week “.
Earlier in the same match, Mitchell Starc is shown reacting to the (correct) decision to rule out Ben Duckett not for a catch where the left-arm fast bowler ground the ball while steadying his body.
Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey was in the eye of the storm over Jonny Bairstow's collapse.Credit: Reuters
“No one goes now if you get caught, just hang around and wait for the replay,” exclaims Starc as he returns to the dressing room. The next day, as Carey catches Duckett on the leg as she bowls him, Starc is on the physio's bench watching the wicket on a TV. “Yeah…fucking justice,” he declares.
Overall, the Aussies found the rest of the series to be an unpleasant experience at times, with Carey facing particularly heavy abuse. Usman Khawaja, who was singled out by a trio of MCC members in the aforementioned lunch break, said that the righteous attitude of 'Bazball' England added to the unpleasantness of the crowd.
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“The crowd was very different to what I was used to when I go to England to play,” Khawaja told this headliner. “A lot nastier than I've ever seen in England before, a lot nastier, a lot more personal, a lot different overall. But I love playing in England and the guys I've played against, I've played with some of them: Stokesy, Jimmy, Woakesy, Rooty, they're all really good guys, I like them a lot.
“It was a bit frustrating as for me I felt they had lost a bit of humility. Maybe we could have lost that game at Edgbaston but they refused to say 'Look we've lost', it was more 'We feel we've won the match.” The next match obviously happened to Bairstow, who they weren't too happy about.
“But instead of taking the high ground and saying 'It is what it is, we'll let the officials officiate', I didn't think so at all. And right up until the end they were talking a lot about saving Test cricket, and I didn't really understand. I don't think Test cricket between Australia and England in the Ashes needed any saving.”
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