The Australian men’s cricket team were denied entry to the training facility at Lord’s on Saturday for training purposes ahead of their World Test Championship final against South Africa on Saturday, according to media reports.
Reports say that the reason Australia was denied entry was because they were told that the training ground at Lord’s wasn’t available.
While the exact reason why Pat Cummins and his team were not allowed remains unknown, Code Sports reports that members of the Indian team, who are in England for a five-match Test series, were training at the same location.
A report by an Australian media house said that the Indian team was permitted to train at Lord’s “at the expense of the Australian team” as Cummins’ men were ‘booted out’ of the venue. The report also emphasised the fact that the Indian team will play its first Test against Australia not before June 20, while the WTC final is scheduled to start on Wednesday.
However, after facing rejection initially, the Australians got access on Sunday and managed to get some practice ahead of their final.
“I think this is the best version of the stadium this morning. There’s no one around, which is great. I’m sure it will be much more civil this time around,” said Cummins, referring to how the Australians have faced hostility at Lords from the English crowd.
“Things got pretty heated in the middle of that Ashes series, but I think a lot of them will have learned their lesson, and I’m sure they’ll be very polite,” he added.
