Former Australia coach Darren Lehmann has criticized the abuse directed at captain Steve Smith during the first Ashes Test and revealed that he still faces sledging over the infamous Sandpapergate scandal.
Lehmann, who coached Australia to Ashes victories in 2013/14 and 2017/18, resigned from his position following the infamous Cape Town Test against South Africa in March 2018.
The incident led to Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft being banned by Cricket Australia for their involvement in ball tampering. Nearly eight years later, Lehmann, who was cleared of any wrongdoing, said that both he and Smith continue to deal with the lingering fallout of the scandal.
“The abuse you get is daily – it is unbelievable. Yesterday I would have copped it maybe 20 or 30 times. Obviously we made a mistake but we paid the price – it borders on abuse. It’s not great for your mental health, to be perfectly honest,” said Lehmann on ABC Radio.
Lehmann expressed sympathy for Smith, who captained the side in Pat Cummins’ absence during the win in Perth, and singled out the Barmy Army for their behaviour, criticising the level of sledging aimed at the Australian star.
“He [Smith] is still playing every day, so it would be a lot worse for him, the abuse he gets. In England they just don’t forget. It’s like they’ve never done anything wrong in their life. The Barmy Army should be better than that, and most of them are – it’s only the ones who drink too much and carry on like pork chops,” said Lehmann.
After serving the ban, Smith had returned to competitive cricket in a grand fashion, during the 2019 Ashes series in England. He has been in terrific touch ever since, and has captained the side occasionally whenever Cummins wasn't available. He did the same during the first Test in Perth as well, and led his troops brilliantly to go 1-0 up in the series.
