England’s disgraceful act as Steve Smith reaches 100th Test milestone

After a week of acting all high and mighty, the Poms were slammed for a “pathetic” move on day one of the Third Test.

If only the English read their own rags.

On the morning of the Third Test – Steve Smith’s milestone 100th match – former England captain Nasser Hussain declared in the Daily Mail it was time for his countrymen to “stand and applaud” the generational talent from Australia.

LIVE: Read of recap of the day one action

Labelling the batting genius the second-best Australian cricketer to ever play the game (no prizes for guessing number one), Hussain attempted to set an honourable tone after one of the most spiteful weeks between the two teams in recent memory.

Steve Smith (right) sings the national anthem ahead of his 100th Test match. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Unfortunately the Leeds crowd didn’t get the memo because when Smith walked to the crease after the fall of Usman Khawaja’s wicket early in the first session, boos rang out around the ground.

It wasn’t just disappointing, it was disgraceful.

Here was a cricketer by any measure one of the games all-time legends being greeted by boorish behaviour when the cricket world wanted to be celebrating his greatness.

Smith’s story can’t be told without mentioning what happened in South Africa in 2018 but through sheer weight of runs – and his eternal childlike love and obsession with the game – he’s won most fans back.

His peak was like nothing we’d seen since Sir Don — across 50 matches between 2014 and 2019 he scored almost 6000 runs at an average of 76.

It was unforgettable dominance and the best extended career peak we’d witnessed since Bradman.

So to hear him disrespected on a special occasion left former Aussie cricketers like Tom Moody wondering what had happened to the “spirit of cricket” we’d heard so much about in the wake of the Second Test.

Booing a player entering the field of play in their 100th test! 🤷🏼‍♂️#SpiritOfCricket

— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) July 6, 2023

Smith boo'd onto the ground on his 100th Test? If so, a delightful 'Spirit of Cricket'.#ashes

— Menners 🎙 (@amenners) July 6, 2023

Steve smith 100th test and the sooky poms boo him on the field. Pathetic!!! #Ashes

— Rob. 🇦🇺 (@rob_freddy) July 6, 2023

Smith looked up for the challenge as he entered a Headingley cauldron ignited by the flames being sent down by Mark Wood.

He absolutely creamed Chris Woakes for six over backward square before sending the faintest of inside edges through to Jonny Bairstow off the bowling of Stuart Broad to fall for 22 just before lunch.

Stuart Broad celebrates the fall of Steve Smith. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

And to lower their colours one more time, some members of the crowd decided to jeer Smith off the ground too.

“Listening to the crowd booing off one of the best cricketers of all time in his 100th Test and reminding myself that we’ve just endured a weeks’ worth of pious lectures on good sportsmanship from that country,” tweeted North Melbourne Football Club president Sonja Hood.

If only the English fans had followed Hussain’s lead.

“Smith gets booed when he gets off the bus and when he goes out to bat, and has songs sung at him fielding on the boundary,” he wrote.

“To be fair, he takes it in pretty good grace. Most of it is done in fun, and the English fans always love a pantomime villain, whether it be Ricky Ponting — after Gary Pratt, the substitute fielder, ran him out at Trent Bridge in 2005 — or Warne.

“Personally, though, I think it is probably time to stand and applaud Smith for what he has done as a cricketer.”

Hear, hear.