3 minute read

England players Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes have made their displeasure clear in response to comments from some fans at the SCG.

Jonny Bairstow wishes his abusers were still there when he walked off the SCG in triumph.

Security evicted three fans from the ground after Bairstow and Ben Stokes were subjected to verbals during Friday's tea break.

The English batters clearly took exception to something that was said as they were about to enter the visitors' dressing room.

Stokes stared down a member of the crowd, while Bairstow fired back in response to the barb.

It's believed three spectators were asked to leave the venue soon after, with guards confident they tracked down the trio that sprayed the tourists.

A couple of hours later, Bairstow walked back to the dressing rooms in triumph after scoring an unbeaten century.

"It would be nicer if they were there giving it when we walked off at the end, wouldn't it?" Bairstow said.

"But unfortunately, they weren't there at the end and they missed the end of a fantastic day's Test cricket."

Bairstow said the abuse was not on and the fans responsible needed to be told as much.

"It was just a bit of bad-mouthing from the crowd and obviously it's not the greatest and it's not needed," he said.

"We're out there trying to do our jobs. People are out there, enjoying the day's cricket and unfortunately sometimes you have people overstep the mark.

"It's important to stand up for ourselves, because if we're not standing up for ourselves as well, then you can cop it and especially when people overstep the mark, they need to be told."

The incident comes one year after India paceman Mohammed Siraj, then fielding on the rope, halted play at the same venue to report racial abuse.

Six spectators were removed from the ground on that occasion.

Cricket Australia (CA) conducted an investigation of the Siraj episode with NSW Police, clearing the six fans of racially abusing Siraj during the Test.

However, CA also made it clear while releasing result of the probe that "members of the Indian cricket team were subjected to racial abuse".

Stokes kept his cool throughout Friday's exchange, in sharp contrast to a 2020 altercation with a fan in the stands that came during a Test in Johannesburg.

Stokes raged on that occasion, barking "come and say it to me outside the ground you f***ing four-eyed c***".

The allrounder was fined 15 per cent of his match fee after that stoush.