Picture Credit: Twitter

Spectators are an integral part of any sport and have proven to be a major source of motivation for the players. But, at times things get ugly. In several instances, we have seen emotions dominate over the passion for sports which led to spats between players and crowd. Something similar happened on Day 3 in an ongoing fourth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Despite impressive innings, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow were body-shamed by reportedly three spectators while the duo was heading towards the dressing room at the end of the second session on Day 3. As per a video being circulated on social media, “Stokes, you’re fat,” a fan said. “Take your jumper off, Bairstow, lose some weight Bairstow,” added the fan. While Stokes ignored the abuse directed at him, he reacted when fans targeted Bairstow. Former stared at the spectator before Bairstow said: “Pal, That’s right. Just turn around and walk away. Weak as piss.”

Watch the video here:

Following the incident, security reportedly evicted three spectators from the ground following the ugly episode. Notably, Bairstow went on to smash a remarkable hundred in the third session, while Ben Stokes was caught leg before the wicket at the score of 66 off 91 balls.

Talking about the incident, Bairstow said, "Fans should be responsible for what they say. It was just a bit of bad-mouthing from the crowd and obviously, it’s not the greatest and it’s not needed. We’re out there trying to do our jobs. People are out there, enjoying the day’s cricket and unfortunately, sometimes you have people overstep the mark." Notably, Md. Siraj suffered a similar kind of behaviour from the crowd at the same venue.