Long and short of it!

As a Playing Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club since 1996 I have been in the very spot where Usman Khawaja was allegedly verbally abused in the Long Room at Lordrsquos Given the proximity of players to members of the public itrsquos astonishing that such an unsavoury incident has never occurred before Make no mistakemdashMCC members we may be but at the end of the day that alone is no guarantee of good mannersWhen humans alcohol patriotic fervour and sport collide in a small room all the privilege in the world cannot guarantee basic courtesies It may be an uncomfortable truth but there can be no shying away from calling out hypocrisy when it hides behind the faccedilade of faux elitismI have fond memories of elite cricket circles in England including at Oxford University MCC The Arabs John Paul Gettyrsquos XI The DukeDuchess of Norfolkrsquos XI etc at places like The Parks Arundel Castle and Lordrsquos These include overseas tours representing MCC at historic venues in India like the Brabourne Stadium These memories are replete with poignant reminders of how fortunate I was to be invited into these august circles but also the immense responsibility it bestowed upon me to honour these institutions in the way I conducted myself The Long Room is one such place I never ever took it for granted It still leaves me awestruck and breathless to feel the weight of history in that room whether it was walking out to bat or as a spectator in blazer and egg rsquon bacon tieAlso Read Ashes 2023 England leave out Matty Potts Rehan Ahmed for third Test at LeedsGenteel atmosphere in IndiaIt was similar in India where I was utterly humbled by the genteel atmosphere of yesteryear at places like CCI and the Bombay Gymkhana Clubs like these clearly position themselves as being elitist letrsquos be honest here but surely with that privilege comes a responsibility to safeguard the traditions of the game that hark back to its roots as The Gentlemanrsquos Game What we witnessed at Lordrsquos on Sunday was a betrayal of that guardianship that is bestowed upon MCC Members like myselfFor this reason I think it is incumbent upon all parties involved to actually come out and reveal what was said to Khawaja There is already much conjecture the obvious suspicions are floating around given that it was the hapless Khawaja who was once again the target of abuse having already been part of Ollie Robinsonrsquos vitriol that not only went unpunished by the ICC but was stoutly defended by his own team and coach It creates a precedent that emboldens cowards in suits to behave similarly hiding behind pathetic excuses like ldquopassion theatre heatofthemomentrdquo If Robinsonrsquos actions on the field were almost glorified is it any wonder then that it provides permission for some spoilt overindulged idiot to think itrsquos de rigeur in the Long Room too Is that passion is that the sort of theatre that the England team justified in Edgbaston as being a heatofthemoment reaction Khawaja barely glanced at Robinson when he told him to ldquo off you fing pkrdquo so what was said in the Long Room that pushed the envelopeMCC and Cricket Australia need to be transparent rather than hide behind outdated notions of privacy that only applies to the elite Would there be privacy and secrecy and discreet diplomacy if it was personal abuse from someone in the nonmembers section If it was as bad as they claim then letrsquos name and shame the culprits Itrsquos the only way to make people realise that you canrsquot hide behind elitism when you behave poorlyItrsquos time to changePlayers take notemdashif you expect respect from spectators be it from the Mound Stand Hollies Stand car park or the members sectionmdashbe the change you want to see Khawaja is a fine role model but is he the exception rather than the rule Players and administrators cannot expect beerswilling yobbos in the cheap seats to be held accountable unless the players themselves and people like me in the Long Room are held to an equal or higher standard Otherwise as Groucho Marx famously said ldquoI refuse to join any club that would have me as a memberrdquoMichael Jeh is a Brisbanebased former firstclass cricketer