Will the Lord's spectators boo Warner and Smith when they face England in a crucial group stage encounter on Tuesday. It is a major point of conversation as both the players who were out of cricket for an year due to ball tampering controversy has received hostile reception in many English grounds.
While Virat Kohli tried to stop the crowd from booing Smith and won the hearts of people online, English captain Eoin Morgan has said that he will not be following suit and let the crowd decide what they want to do. Now, Australian spin wizard Shane Warne has given his two cents on the controversy.
On Twitter, he said, " I don't like any players being booed in any sport, but if the fans who pay their $$ want to, then they are entitled too- go for it. But do it at your own peril as I know this will not effect them, but could inspire!!".
Regarding the match, Warne said, " Aust will want to bat first and England will want to chase, so toss irrelevant. Lyon should play. If Khawaja bats 3 he will be bounced out again as he hasn't faced any short quick stuff since WI, 3rd seamer an issue for Oz, and England will target him".
Regarding England's vulnerability, Warne said, " Will England trust its aggressive game and come out swinging as it's worked out-but never tested under WC pressure. Will Oz conservative style holdup against a quality team-it didn't against India. What an opportunity it could be for Oz ahead of the ashes to knock Eng out today".
Regarding Warner and Smith, Morgan had said, "I'm not expecting anything. I think fans and supporters up and down the country will have different reactions, as they will around the world. So we'll see," Morgan told reporters on Monday."Supporters pay a lot of money, they do. And sport is beautiful in many ways, because it attracts people from far and wide.
"And you often see crowds offering support to both sets of players in the grounds." - '
Morgan added: "You don't know how sports fans will react.
"Just because two guys have been punished, served their punishment and returned to play, it doesn't mean they will be accepted back into the cricket community straight away. It will take time." England batsman Jonny Bairstow accused Australia of double standards in asking fans to go easy on Warner and Smith because former coach Darren Lehmann had previously urged supporters to verbally abuse England quick Stuart Broad during an Ashes series 'Down Under'.
With PTI inputs