Aussie tennis legend Pat Cash says ‘disgraceful’ sandpaper duo deserves everything they get
Steve Smith and David Warner have been copping it at every turn from rabid England fans at the World Cup — and now an Australian sporting icon has torn strips off the pair.
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Steve Smith and David Warner deserve all the crowd abuse they are copping because “what they did was disgraceful”, according to Aussie tennis great Pat Cash.
The star batsmen have been booed relentlessly during games in Southampton, Bristol and Nottingham and were due to cop another hostile reception in London against India last night.
“What they did was disgraceful,” Cash, who was unveiled as Australia’s celebrity at the World Cup launch party, told The Courier-Mail.
“I don’t think anybody in Australia could justify that, or in the world. They deserve to get a bit of a hard time from the crowd, I really do believe they kind of deserve it in a way.
“The texts I got from people was just non-stop, it was all, ‘What the hell were they thinking’.
“They deserve it, they deserve some ribbing, get on with it and get it out of the system and then we forgive and move on.
“They’re great cricketers, there’s no denying that. They made a mistake, that’s it, there’s been worse things — match fixings and things like that.”
Smith’s century celebrations in a warm-up game against England was marred by boos, albeit mixed in with some applause, while Warner’s half-century against Afghanistan was met with a similar reaction.
When Smith’s stunning 73 against West Indies ended courtesy of Sheldon Cottrell’s catch of the tournament contender, cheers for the fielder’s brilliant take were quickly overpowered by boos at Nottingham.
LISTEN: The Herald Sun’s Sam Landsberger joins the Cricket Unfiltered Podcast to discuss Australia’s hot start.
Originally published as Aussie tennis legend Pat Cash says ‘disgraceful’ sandpaper duo deserves everything they get
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