“Aussie, Aussie, Aussie; Cheats, Cheats, Cheats”
“Aussie, Aussie, Aussie; Cheats, Cheats, Cheats”
These were the chants that echoed at the County Ground, Bristol during the game between Australia and Afghanistan on Saturday, 1 June.
The Australian team, David Warner and Steve Smith may have put the whole ball-tampering saga behind them, but clearly, the fans are far from being over it.
Be it while fielding in the outfield, scoring a boundary, getting a half century or even receiving the man of the match award, both Warner and Smith were booed like there’s no tomorrow.
In a bid to mock the duo further, fans were seen dressed as sandpaper, rubbing themselves against a big image of a cricket ball.
In 2018, the Australian duo faced an international ban for a year after they were found guilty of ball-tampering using a sandpaper during a match against South Africa.
Bat Does the Talking: Warner Scores 89/114
Warner, on the other hand, let his bat do the talking. The Southpaw scored 89* off 114 balls and took his team over the line. Smith too, nearly finished it before getting out with just 3 runs required to win.
Nonetheless, he gave his critics a solid answer when he scored a century against England in the warm-up game. Australia next face the West Indian challenge as they take on the Caribbeans on 6 June at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
As far as Warner and Smith are concerned, they would like to get use to the not so good, “Crowd Support”.
