Ashes News: Sydney Test Witnesses Crowd Trouble Again, Ben Stokes at Receiving End

The third day of the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England saw some unsavory scenes. The Sydney Cricket Ground has always been a flashpoint for poor crowd behavior and just before the tea break, there was a major incident between one cricket spectator and Ben Stokes. Just as Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow went to the dressing room for the tea break, Stokes and one spectator were involved in a verbal spat.

The cricket spectator was just beside the dressing room. When Stokes walked in, he said something that riled up Stokes. The left-hander stared and eyeballed the spectator. After a brief exchange, the spectator was ejected out of the stadium. England had made fantastic progress in the second session. Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow shared a partnership in excess of 100 as England made a brilliant recovery.

History of crowd trouble in Sydney

This is not the first time that the Sydney Cricket Ground has seen crowd trouble. In January 2021, India vs Australia clash at the venue saw spectators hurl ‘racist’ abuse against Mohammed Siraj. The Indian authorities immediately informed the security at the Sydney Cricket Ground and a bunch of spectators were ejected.

Read – Don’t write Ben Stokes off, Joe Root

Ben Stokes & Jonny Bairstow weren’t very chuffed with whatever was said by a bunch of fans as they walked back into the dressing-room. They even stopped & had something to say to them. The England security staff look on as the fan in question is evicted by security #Ashes pic.twitter.com/ZDEMCNXBSx

— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) January 7, 2022

When it comes to the Ashes, Sydney was at the sight of a bad incident during the 1971 series. England had already clinched the series 2-0 but tensions boiled over in Sydney. Spectators hurled beer cans and bottles at Snow as he called on them to fight him. A fan grabbed England pacer, Jon Snow, by the collar after he had bowled a bouncer barrage at the Australian tail-enders

As pandemonium ensued, the England players sat in the center of the field. Skipper Ray Illingworth sensationally led them off. Fourteen people were arrested. Snow’s grabber was not among them.

Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow Revive England on day 3

The first session started horribly for England as the top order failed yet again. Scott Boland was the star with two wickets, including Joe Root for 0. Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green were the other bowling heroes for Australia. Starc cleaned up Haseeb Hameed and Boland got his first wicket by dismissing Zak Crawley. When Green dismissed Dawid Malan, England were in massive trouble.

But, Stokes and Bairstow played out 70 deliveries without a run to wear Australia down. After having gotten their eye in, Stokes was in fine form. The duo were harsh on Nathan Lyon, who was hit for boundaries on a regular basis. Stokes notched up his fifty with a big six off Nathan Lyon. But, the offspinner had his revenge as he trapped the left-hander LBW for 66. Bairstow received a blow on his thumb from Pat Cummins but he shouldered on.

England are trailing the five-match series 0-3 and are in danger of being whitewashed 0-5 for the fourth time in Ashes history.