Australian Ashes stars caught rowing with England fan after confronting him

Australian Ashes stars Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja were caught rowing with an England fan at The Oval on Saturday after being branded “boring” by the spectator. The Baggy Greens had already retained the Ashes ahead of the final Test in south London.

The big-hitting batsmen were forced to make their way through England fans as they embarked on a journey up the steps and back to the dressing room after fielding for the entire third day of play. But they were heckled by a particularly noisy fan who repeated the insult “boring” at every Aussie player who passed him.

The spectator cupped his mouth with one hand as he lent towards Labuschagne and Khawaja. And the duo refused to ignore his verbals as they turned around to confront him.

“What did you say?” hissed 29-year-old Labuschagne in an exchange that was caught on camera and posted on Twitter. “What did you say mate? Oi. Hey. Oi.” Khawaja, 36, can then be heard telling the fan: “Hey, hey, hey, calm down, calm down.”

The England follower appears to instantly regret his behaviour as he replies: “I apologise.” But Labuschagne refuses to let it lie as he hits back: “Well you’re just about to have a go at everyone else.” Khawaja finally pushes his younger team-mate up the steps as Australia fans can be heard offering words of encouragement to other players walking past. And the video ends with the original fan laughing about the incident with his Australian counterparts.

Australia will be delighted to have retained the Ashes after failing to really dominate any of the first four Tests. The tourists won the first Test at Edgbaston and backed that up with victory at Lord’s but were then beaten by England at Headingley. England needed to win the fourth Test at Old Trafford to set-up a winner-takes-all decider at The Oval. But the contest ended in a draw after the final day was washed out by rain.

England began the fifth Test knowing a win would secure a 2-2 series draw. But after the Three Lions scored 678 runs from their two innings at the crease, Australia began the final day of action on Monday needing 249 runs in 98 overs to claim a 3-1 series triumph.

Ahead of this year’s showdown, Australia had won two of the last three Ashes series, with the other one ending in a draw. England last got their hands on the Ashes urn in 2015 when they won the series 3-2 on home soil.