Cricket
12 months after Siraj episode, abusive SCG crowd earns ire of Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow
A crowd-sourced video from the Sydney Cricket Ground shows England batters Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow being abused crudely by fans and the players then confronting them.
Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow were abused by the SCG crowd as they walked back after the second session of the ongoing Ashes Test (BCCI, Screenshot)
Twelve months after the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) came under fire for racially abusing Mohammad Siraj, they earned the ire of English batters Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow on Friday.
"Stokes, you're fat," a fan was heard saying in a crowd sourced video published on The Age website. Another urged Bairstow to "take your jumper off… lose some weight."
In the video, Stokes is seen initially not reacting to the sledge but then stopping as the abuse shifts from him to his batting partner Bairstow.
After a few tense seconds, Bairstow appears to tell the offending members of the crowd: "That's right. Just turn around and walk away."
England team director Ashley Giles is seen not intervening during the exchange. As Stokes and Bairstow turn away from the fan, he is seen giving Bairstow a supportive pat as the player entered the change room.
"It was just a bit of bad-mouthing from the crowd, it's not the greatest, and it's not needed," Bairstow, unbeaten on 103 at stumps, said after the day's play.
During the SCG Test between Australia and India last year, India seamer has Mohammed Siraj alleged he had been racially abused by spectators seated behind where he was fielding. A Cricket Australia report believed Siraj and his teammates had been racially abused but then cleared the six men ejected.
