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Former England cricketer and veteran commentator David Lloyd has lambasted Australian batsman Steve Smith after the latter was allegedly caught trying to remove Rishabh Pant’s guard marks on Day 5 of the third Test against India at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Smith was caught on the stump camera trying to scuff the guard marked by Pant. After a video clip of the incident went viral on the internet, Aussie skipper Tim Paine cameo out to defend Smith by stating that the New South Wales batsman was not trying to remove Pant’s guard marks.
Meanwhile, in his column on The Daily Mail, Lloyd wrote that Smith’s actions were “childish” and added that the former Aussie captain should have been more careful of his actions bearing in mind that all the cameras are always ready to catch such episodes.
“Let’s start with Steve Smith’s decision to rake his size nines on the crease where Rishabh Pant had marked his guard. That was plain childish. He’s trying to irritate the batsman,” wrote Lloyd.
Smith did not learn with sandpaper incident: Lloyd
Lloyd also explained how Smith had not learnt anything from the infamous ‘Sandpapergate’ scandal that happened three years ago against South Africa.
“But with all the cameras around these days and Smith’s history with the sandpaper, you have to reach the conclusion that he can’t have two brain cells to rub together,” he added.
Smith had to serve a 12-month ban for the ball-tampering scandal and had lost his captaincy as well. Lloyd said that history would judge Smith as a great player but incapable of behaving himself.
“You do wonder what people will say about Smith in years to come. You never hear cricket fans say: ‘That Don Bradman, or that Garry Sobers, they could play a bit, but they were a real idiot.’ With Smith, though, you get the feeling that these incidents are going to affect the way history regards him: a great batsman, sure, but incapable of behaving himself,” Lloyd wrote further.
