The Ashes 2023: 'A tumultuous week for cricket in summer that has shown best and worst of game'

This men's Ashes series has already provided the gripping spectacle that many hoped would help reinvigorate Test cricket, following fears for the format's future amid the rise of T20 franchise leagues around the world.

But among unforgettable drama and renewed interest, the action has played out against an unedifying backdrop of mounting controversy and turbulence, forcing the sport to confront difficult questions about its image, and the values it stands for.

With its reputation already on the line, English cricket now faces concerns that the rancour witnessed in the second Test at Lords could boil over at Headingley for the third Test, which starts on Thursday. As the players joust verbally - with arguments over fairness and accusations of hypocrisy - what does all this tell us about the sport today? And what's at stake?

On the eve of the second Test at Lord's, the England and Wales Cricket Board had to issue an apology for its failings, and to the victims of discrimination, after a damning report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) found the sport to be inherently racist, sexist and classist. Attention soon turned to how many of the report's 44 recommendations the game will be prepared - and able to afford - to implement.

Just days later came another unreserved apology - this time by hosts the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to the Australia team. This, it said, was for the "completely unacceptable" behaviour of some members towards the tourists after the controversial stumping of England's Jonny Bairstow.

With some observers comparing the normally sedate Long Room to a raucous football terrace, Australia complained about the "disrespect" and "abuse" hurled at their players. Three MCC members were suspended pending an investigation.

For an institution known as the guardian of the game's rules - and already having to review its security arrangements after Just Stop Oil protesters managed to evade stewards and reach the field on the first day - this was a further embarrassment the MCC could have done without.

The MCC had promised to ensure "Lord's is a place where everyone feels welcome" after the ICEC report concluded that it was part of the problems facing English cricket, with a recommendation that the annual fixture between Eton and Harrow was no longer played at the ground because it "sends a message of elitism". The ugly scenes in the Long Room really were the last thing it needed.

There will now inevitably be further questions over whether the unique proximity to the players that MCC members enjoy in the Lord's pavilion should be reviewed if the manners and conduct the club prides itself on cannot be guaranteed, and whether more members will be suspended given the level of heckling. Does the incident increase pressure on the MCC to implement the kind of reforms recommended by the ICEC report, despite resistance from members in the past?

There is also debate over whether it was fair for former England captain Sir Andrew Strauss to suggest that some of the relentless booing of the Australians may have been because the final day was attended by some spectators who do not usually go to Lord's.

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As if all that was not enough, the fall-out from the second Test has seen demands by many for another apology - from Australia. They stand accused of poor sportsmanship in their handling of the Bairstow incident.

While the tourists have firmly defended their actions, and have received plenty of support from many in the game, even the UK Prime Minister has entered the row. A Downing Street spokesperson said that Rishi Sunak agreed with England captain Ben Stokes that he would not want to win a game in such a manner, and that he believed it had breached "the spirit of cricket".

In response, Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, backed his team, and in a thinly-veiled reference to Bairstow, told Sunak to "stay in your crease".

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With memories still fresh of the Australia team's 2018 ball-tampering scandal, after which they promised to win back trust and change their culture, it is perhaps unsurprising that the atmosphere at Lord's was as febrile as anyone can recall. Many fans and players will no doubt relish the prospect of even more tension at Headingley.

But there will also be concern that at a time when cricket badly needs to restore some dignity, all the talk is of worsening relations between the teams, how the crowd in Leeds will behave, and even the risk of a diplomatic incident between the two countries, now politicians are wading into the debate.

Yorkshire County Cricket Club, the hosts of the third Test, can ill afford for the expected acrimony towards the Australians at Headingley to spill over. The club has been brought to its knees over the racism scandal that engulfed it two years ago following the allegations of racist abuse by former spin bowler Azeem Rafiq. Already facing a financial crisis, Yorkshire could now be hit with a record fine and a deduction of between 48 and 72 points in this season's County Championship after it admitted a "failure to address systemic use of racist and/or discriminatory language over a prolonged period", among other charges.

With concerns over any repeat of the on-field protest that disrupted play at Lord's, Yorkshire chiefs have beefed up security at Headingley, saying in a statement that "some incidents at Lord's have heightened the exposure of the third Test."

The sense of theatre that all this generates may make the action even more compelling at a time when Test cricket needs a lift. For many, a hostile, passionate atmosphere is part of what makes Ashes cricket so special.

Can England fight back from 2-0 down? Or has their much-vaunted 'Bazball' strategy met its match? Such questions only add to the anticipation in what is a titanic sporting drama.

But there is also a sense that this summer is showing both the best and worst of the game.

English cricket was already under unprecedented scrutiny over its record on discrimination. Now, after a tumultuous week, there will be mounting scrutiny over decorum and respect, and whether the values the game has been associated with for so long are being upheld.

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