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The booing of Steve Smith was disgusting

Roar Guru
18th August, 2019
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Roar Guru
18th August, 2019
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1189 Reads

When I was a young lad, my dear maternal grandfather used to take me to watch my heroes play at the SCG.

As a member, we used to arrive early and find a seat in the MA Noble Stand behind the bowler’s arm. These were great days.

Grandpa would point to the fieldsmen and explain how the bowler was trying to get the batsman out. He’d tell me stories of times past. And, as the long day wore on, we’d simply sit in silence and enjoy each other’s company, just as much we relished the action on the field.

But some of his lessons were hard learned.

On one occasion, an opposing fieldsman dropped one of my favourite batsmen. In my boyish excitement, I jumped to my feet and cheered. Suddenly, I felt a deceptively strong hand around my arm as I was being yanked back into my seat.

Grandpa – an eternally kind and gentle man – looked at me sternly and said: “We don’t cheer mistakes, lad. That’s not in the spirit of this game. Do that again and this is the last time I take you to the cricket.”

I was stunned. But I never forgot.

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Which brings me to this.

What kind of snivelling, timorous, cowardly callow, cravenly crass, there-will-always-be-an-England, Rule Britannia, oh-so-superior, contemptuous git would jeer a man who has just been felled by a vicious bouncer?

And this from a people who famously used a brand of mints to achieve a preposterous level of reverse swing to win that epic series in 2005.

The only difference between sandpaper-gate and mint-gate is that the English were cleverer in both devising and executing their plan. I see no moral difference.

But I get why Steve Smith has been booed throughout this English summer. Some of it is motivated by a genuine disapproval of his role in the sandpaper affair. Most, I fear, is petty gamesmanship designed to (forlornly) distract an opposing threat.

But, surely, what happened at Lord’s on Saturday night crosses the line of common decency.

First, Smith was hit a savage blow on his forearm. Though clearly distressed, he batted on.

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Then – in a sight that looked far too familiar – Smith was struck on the side of the neck, perilously close to his carotid artery, by a brutish bouncer. He collapsed to the ground. I felt sick watching it.

Steve Smith suffers a blow from Jofra Archer.

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

I don’t know whether Smith was being brave or pig-headed, first in only reluctantly leaving the arena and then in returning to the battle at his first opportunity.

Either way, however, Smith’s unwillingness to concede defeat – through a body blow, if not by the taking of his wicket – deserved respect.

No matter what you think about Smith’s lack of fortitude in allowing the ball-tampering scheme to proceed, there’s a time and place to voice your disapproval. The moment a man walks back onto the field, after being poleaxed by a potentially lethal weapon, is neither the time nor the place.

That’s when a man stands up and applauds. Or, if he cannot find that graciousness within himself, that’s when a man remains silent.

I condemn those who booed Smith. It was a disgusting display of poor sportsmanship.

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And at Lord’s, of all places.

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