For the second straight year, crowd abuse threatens to overshadow Australia's New Year test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, after spectators were filmed sledging England batters Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes.
As Stokes and Bairstow left the field for the tea break on day three of the fourth Ashes test, video shows fans targeting the English pair, en route to the team's dressing room.
In a barrage of verbals, the English pair's weight and physical appearance were clear targets for the spectators.
"Stokes, you're fat”, "take your jumper off, Bairstow', and "lose some weight, Bairstow" were recorded on amateur video supplied to Sydney Morning Herald.
To his credit, Bairstow didn't take the abuse lying down, firing back at his tormentors.
"That's right, just turn around and walk away,” he replied. “Weak as piss."
Bairstow returned to the crease after tea and finished the day with a century with 103 not out, as England managed 258/7 in reply to Australia's 418/6 declared.
This isn't the first instance of spectators abusing players in Sydney. In the 2021 New Year's test against India, Mohammed Siraj was targeted on the boundary by six members of the crowd, before the group was ejected from the ground.
Siraj alleged the culprits called him a "brown dog" and "monkey".
