Steve Smith is one of the world best batsman and he has always been a thorn in the flesh of every side that he has played against. The last time Steve Smith came to England was in 2019. The Australian vice captain had scored a marvelous century in the finals of the World Test Championship final against India along with Travis Head. Coming into the Ashes the 34 year old was regarded as the biggest wicket for the English side in a bid to claim their 1st Ashes series triumph in 8 years.
Fans mock Steve Smith –
Edgbaston crowd are always known to be hard on the opposition team and love to have a bit of a banter. It was no different on Monday as England were batting and Steve Smith was fielding near the Hollies stand. The entire crowd broke into a unanimous “We saw you crying on the Tele” chant. This was in reference to Steve Smith’s tearful interview post the Sandpaper Saga in 2018.
English fans rekindle old wounds –
Steve Smith was the Australian captain when they toured South Africa in 2018. The tour had already seen tempers flare in the first two tests with players nearly coming to blows. The third test saw TV cameras pick up Cameron Bancroft tuck something into his trousers which also surprised the South African commentators. It was later learnt that the match ball was rubbed with Sandpaper.
Captain Steve Smith and David Warner were given a year long ban, while Bancroft was banned for 6 months. Smith was stripped of his captaincy and Warner was taken off as vice captain and still to this day isn’t able to captain his national side. Bancroft on the other hand hasn’t made it back to the Australian side since.
Scenes of 2019 Ashes –
The first big series for Steve Smith after coming back from a ban was the Ashes 2019 series. Steve Smith was faced with crowds who were going to make life tough for him. Smith though answered back the critics on the field with 774 runs despite being felled by Archer’s bouncer at Lords. Off the field though it was a different story as Smith was constantly being mocked and taunted by the English cricket fans.
Twitter reacts –
Cricket fans took to Twitter to react to the English cricket fans mocking Steve Smith on the 4th day of the 1st test. You can read all the tweets from the fans below.
Steve Smith heads over to the Hollies for the first time this series….#Ashes pic.twitter.com/Hs1cRB56Lb
— England's Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) June 19, 2023
Heartbreaking. Steve Smith has broken down delivering a message to young Aussie cricket fans. pic.twitter.com/l14AsvAhXz
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 29, 2018
The former captain of Australia's cricket team, Steve Smith, has broken down in tears at a press conference, after admitting his role in a ball-tampering scandal https://t.co/vgRADLYtu6 pic.twitter.com/xTncpByfsZ
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 29, 2018
The Poms still singing “we saw you cry on the Tele” at Smith like he didn’t score 774 runs and retain the ashes for us last time in his return to test cricket. Bunch of clueless wankers in those stands #Ashes2023
— Professor Hoo Jeen Ix (@hoojeenix) June 19, 2023
#ENGvAUS we saw you cry on the tele cry on the teleeeeee 🎶🎶
— JDTV (@JD_TV_) June 19, 2023
“We saw you cry on the tele” I love cricket fans 😂 #TheAshes
— Thomas Stirk (@TomStirk1992) June 19, 2023
Crowd Singing "We saw you cry on the tele" to Steve Smith 🤣 #Ashes2023 #Edgbaston
— Si Garnett (@supersi666) June 19, 2023
We saw you cry on the tele 😂😂😂 fuckin love England fans me #Ashes2023
— Seamus McAfee ⚽️🏴🇬🇧 (@SeamusMcafee) June 19, 2023
Was Steve Smith dancing to the 'We saw you cry on the tele' chant before? 😂#Ashes
— Lachlan McKirdy (@LMcKirdy7) June 19, 2023