Sport often welcomes back a bad boy turned good but some offences lie so far beyond the pale a return is almost impossible despite protestations
Steve Smith and David Warner were booed during Australia’s warm-up fixtures against West Indies and England in Southampton. The Aussies won both matches, and Smith got runs in both, so perhaps they won’t care about a phenomenon that seems likely to continue throughout the World Cup, even if they get to the final on 14 July.
According to Smith, who spoke after taking a ton off England’s bowlers at the Hampshire Bowl on Saturday, the chants of “Cheat! Cheat! Cheat!” are like “water off a duck’s back – it doesn’t bother me”. But it should, because it is an expression of a wholly justifiable revulsion that cannot be wiped away by a few months in enforced exile from the game, followed by a smooth reinstatement in time for the big one.
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