“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”.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)