Ashes: Australia BOOED by Headingley crowd following Jonny Bairstow incident

Australia unsurprisingly received a hostile welcome to Headingley as England fans aimed boos at Pat Cummins‘ side ahead of the third Ashes Test.

The Australian national anthem was largely respected by the Headingley crowd, but loud boos greeted Aussie opener Usman Khawaja and David Warner at the crease.

The atmosphere was even more febrile by the end of the first over, after Stuart Broad dismissed Warner and immediately proceeded to rev up the crowd on the Western Terrace.

Earlier in the day, a smattering of boos welcomed Pat Cummins on the field for the pre-match toss. 

The hosts’ anger with their rivals over the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s has shown no sign of dissipating in the days since Australia won the second Test at the Home of Cricket, with fans incensed with the morally questionable act committed by Alex Carey.

A smattering of boos greeted Australian captain Pat Cummins (left) at the toss

The end of the Australian national anthem was greeted by loud boos from the crowd

David Warner (left) and Usman Khawaja walked to the crease to a hostile reception

After ducking out of the way of a Cameron Green bouncer, Bairstow – who had been standing in his crease – scratched his mark before walking down the wicket to talk to Stokes, thinking that the ball was dead.

Carey, noticing Bairstow leave his ground, stumped his rival wicketkeeper, with the umpires deeming that the ball was still alive.

The Lord’s crowd was enraged by the Australians’ behaviour and they were greeted by a volatile Long Room at the lunch break, with the MCC later apologising after the players were upset by the members’ actions.

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But the Leeds masses opted not to relent in expressing their disgust towards the Aussies and were heard booing the players ahead of play on Thursday. 

Barmy Army spokesman George Gallantree warned that a hostile atmosphere would await the Aussies.

‘It’s going to be louder than a Taylor Swift concert on the Western Terraces in the afternoon after the fans have had a few Tetley Bitters,’ Gallantree told News Corp.

‘Lord’s is more of a library compared to Headingley.’

Despite the controversial nature of Sunday’s antics, Cummins believes his side behaved exceptionally well at Lord’s. 

Stuart Broad immediately whipped up the crowd in a frenzy after removing Warner

The Aussie opener walked back to the pavilion to a cascade of boos after being dismissed

‘It doesn’t really bother me to be honest,’ said Cummins when first asked how he felt about his integrity being questioned. ‘I think the way our team has conducted ourselves over the last couple of years has been flawless and we’ve been fantastic. 

‘I think that was shown again on day five at Lord’s.’

But was an opportunity missed for you to do something positive for the game? 

‘We’ve all moved on and as I said the other day we’ve done nothing wrong,’ said Cummins after first bizarrely bringing up the Trevor Chappell underarm bowling incident from the 1970s.

‘A hundred per cent I think it’s a real thing,’ said Cummins when asked about the spirit of cricket. 

‘At times I think there’s nuance about it and people see it a little bit differently. You talk about cricket as a gentleman’s sport and you want to regain respect for the opposition and umpires and fans at all times. 

‘It’s one of the strengths of our game. I think our players were outstanding in that regard.’

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