It was a great day for fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on the second day of the ongoing Boxing Day Test as there were several reasons for them to celebrate. The hosts ended the day in a commanding position but that wasn’t the only reason for them to have fun. Local boys Marcus Harris and Scott Boland had a day out as the former returned to form with a gritty knock of 76 runs while the latter, picked up two wickets in one over in his debut Test.
However, the celebrations and enjoyment got a little out of hand as excessive drinking and unruly behaviour by a few people resulted in them getting ejected from the stadium.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the Victoria Police evicted 100 fans from the stadium as excessive drinking was followed by swearing and multiple shoeys, creating chaos, after which they had to take action.
The crowd was on the top of its voice despite England taking regular wickets in the first two sessions as Victorian Harris brought up his first fifty of the series. However, they didn’t imagine that the crowd would let themselves loose to an extent that atmosphere could turn ugly.
As per the report, there were no arrests but the ejection was necessary. Other fans in the crowd photographed those who were being escorted out while drinking beer from their shoes, which many have become familiar with after the Australian men’s team’s celebration following the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 win.
Australia were in danger of getting bowled out early as they were 219/8 despite Harris’ heroics and just a 34-run lead in the kitty before Mitchell Starc added crucial runs along with skipper Pat Cummins and Scott Boland to take the lead to 82, which now became very handy.
However, England batters’ poor run continued as they were reduced to 31/4 by the end of the day and still 51 runs behind Australia’s lead as they look to keep the series alive and save this Test match.
