Australian batsman Steve Smith got involved in a heated spat with umpire Nigel long in the iconic Boxing Day Test match against New Zealand at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, 26 December.
The Kiwis won the toss and chose to field. After loosing Joe Burns on a first ball duck, the kangaroos somehow managed to steady their ship, courtesy David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne. But soon Tim Southee sent Warner back to the pavilion.
As Smith walked onto the ground, boos echoed around the MCG, thus making him angry.
According to a report in stuff.co.nz, some of the Kiwi fans in the Olympic Stand even waved what looked like sandpaper, thus reminding the former Australia captain of his role in the infamous sandpaper gate controversy which took place last year in Cape Town.
Smith was met with a fiery spell from seamer Neil Wagner very early on in the innings. In the 26th over of the innings, Wagner bowled two aggressive short pitch deliveries. Smith, on both the occasions didn’t offer any shot but tried to steal a single. Umpire Niger Llong then stepped in and asked the Australian batsman to stay at his end.
Niger had declared both the deliveries as dead ball as Smith was didn’t offer any shot. This didn’t go down well with the world no. 2 Test batsman.
Smith was seen leaving the ground while having an intense debate with the umpire during the tea break.
Shane Warne, who was on air, was also unhappy with the umpire’s decision.
“Well the umpire’s wrong. Steve Smith has every right to be angry because the interpretation Nigel Llong is giving at the minute is incorrect.” Warne said on Fox Cricket
“The rule is if you evade a short ball and it hits any part of your body you’re allowed to run even if you don’t play a shot,” said Warne.
“I’m sure someone’s going to have a chat to Nigel Llong in the lunch break because Steve Smith’s livid and rightly so,” he added.
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