Steve Smith's mum caught in 'disgraceful' scenes amid fresh Ashes fallout

The English mother of Aussie cricket star Steve Smith was reportedly forced to leave early on day five of the second Ashes Test at Lord's after copping abuse from fans in ugly scenes that also left an 11-year-old boy in tears. It followed the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow that has divided the cricket world, with Australia concerned about the ugly fallout ahead of the third Test at Headingley - which gets underway on Thursday.

Australia have requested extra security for the players' families in Leeds after several unsavoury incidents erupted in the stands at Lord's. Three Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) members have already been suspended after abusing Aussie players, including Usman Khawaja, during nasty scenes in the Long Room.

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The MCC is also investigating other incidents including reports from Aussie cricket scribe Peter Lalor that the 11-year-old son of a staff member was reduced to tears as a result of the verbal abuse being dished out to Australians by English fans. Smith's mother Gillian was reportedly forced to leave the ground early after being taunted by fans when they realised she was barracking for Australia.

While there is no suggestion crowd members knew they were family members, the group of Aussie supporters - that comprised more than one child - were allegedly sworn at and endlessly labelled cheats because of their nationality. The Aussies fear the situation could be even worse at Headingley and have requested security to be beefed up in the wake of the disturbing drama.

Aussies want security beefed up at Headingley

Headingley is renowned for being one of the most hostile grounds for the Aussies at the best of times, and there are understandable fears that the Bairstow controversy will inflame tensions. Aussie captain Pat Cummins confirmed his side have asked for extra protection for families at Leeds and want security to be more proactive than they were in London.

"We are in our partner period here, so lots of family and kids around," Australia captain Pat Cummins said. "I think there will be an extra eye on them where they are in the crowd to make sure everything is fine."

Cummins was again forced to defend his team's actions over the Bairstow dismissal amid ongoing suggestions it went against "the spirit of cricket". Former captain Ricky Ponting was among those to slam the notion and said part of that mantra is respecting the opposition, the rules and the decision of umpires.

Australia's current skipper agrees and has bristled at commentary linking this current controversy to the ball-tampering scandal in 2018 or even Trevor Chappell's famous underarm controversy in 1981. While Cummins got the decade slightly wrong, he felt it was unfair of critics to keep painting the Aussie side out to be cheats.

"There has been talk this week about the underarm incident. That was 1970s. How far do you want to go back?" Cummins said. "We've all moved on. The team did nothing wrong, so we're all comfortable.

"The way our team has conducted themselves over the past couple of years has been flawless. We have been fantastic and I think that showed again at Lord's."

Despite the ugly incidents at Lord's and the Aussie side's concerns around crowd hostility in Leeds, England captain Ben Stokes stopped short of calling for calm in the stands at Headingley. "I can't really say do this or don't do that. Everyone knows what the atmosphere is like here," he said. "We know what it is like in Australia. It will be one of those things where we will have the home support right behind us."

with agencies

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