‘Master class in (legal) swing bowling?’ Air New Zealand troll Steve Smith, David Warner

Steve Smith and David Warner have been trolled by Air New Zealand and an Australian Radio Jockey after they were banned for one year by Cricket Australia over the ball-tampering row versus South Africa.

cricket Updated: Mar 28, 2018 17:48 IST
David Warner and Steve Smith were handed a one-year ban by Cricket Australia for their involvement in the ball-tampering fiasco during the Newlands Test against South Africa.
David Warner and Steve Smith were handed a one-year ban by Cricket Australia for their involvement in the ball-tampering fiasco during the Newlands Test against South Africa. (AFP)

David Warner and skipper Steve Smith were on Wednesday banned for a year each by Cricket Australia while Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months because of their involvement in the ball tampering scandal that has taken the cricketing world by storm.

The three have already faced sanctions from the International Cricket Council. Warner and Smith have also stepped down as captains of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals — the franchises they represent in the Indian Premier League.

However, as it happens with every controversy, there were a number of memes and trolls that went around in the past few days.

While former cricketers and fans took their sly digs at Australia and their cricketers, Air New Zealand came up with a hilarious invitation for Smith, Warner and Cameron urging them to go visit New Zealand, their trans-Tasman rivals and spend some time given the condition back home.

The text read: “Hi Steve, we hear you’re heading home for some time off. While you’ve been a naughty boy, our boys have been doing rather nicely. This Friday, we’re taking on the Poms again, in Christchurch. How about a master class in swing bowling? How about a master class in (legal) swing bowling? Oh, also it’s a little cooler down south. So it might be a nice way for you to escape the heat back home. David and Cameron are welcome too. Anyway, offer’s there.”

The ‘legal’ term was aimed at Australia’s attempt to roughen up the surface of the ball to try and generate reverse swing for lengthier periods, an act Bancroft was on when television cameras caught him red-handed. New Zealand lead their two match series against England 1-0 and had won the first Test in thumping fashion after beating the visitors by an innings and 49 runs.

However, it wasn’t just the rivals’ camps that were on with nasty remarks about the Baggy Greens. Triple J, an Australian national radio station came up with a video slamming their cricketers as cheats who try and get away playing the game in the wrong spirit. They even mocked the underarm bowling saga, in which Trevor Chappell was asked by his brother Greg Chappell, who was also the captain of the national side back in 1981 to bowl underarm. New Zealand required a six off the last ball to tie the match but that was always impossible with the ball kissing the pitch all along as it reached the batsman.