England fans hold up sandpapers during Day 1 of Birmingham Test. (Reuters)
In the first Test of the Ashes series that began Thursday, England had reason to celebrate as Australian opener David Warner was dismissed early in the first inning. Warner was adjudged LBW off the last ball of the fourth over by Stuart Broad for just 2 runs. And as the Australian opener walked off the ground, an entire section of the English fans at the Birmingham stadium stood up to wave sandpapers at him.
Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft are playing their first Test since the infamous ball-tampering scandal in March 2018, and the English fans had clearly come prepared.
Bancroft was caught trying to rough up one side of the ball with sandpaper during the third Test match against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town. Warner and Smith were banned from international cricket for 12 months while Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban.
The B & Q hardware store at Birmingham have had to close their doors today as they restock new sandpapers due to the influx of people buying this to take to Edgbaston!!! More of this will happen throughout the next 7 weeks #TheAshes #sandpaper pic.twitter.com/6n5JODdcrF
— Clint Stevens (@clintstevens123) August 1, 2019
YEEESSS @StuartBroad8!! GET IN!!
Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/1J6wGj3xwv pic.twitter.com/UaYWyvOZec
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 1, 2019
Warner and Smith returned to international cricket in the recently-concluded World Cup in England and had faced boos during the tournament. Some fans had even dressed up in sandpaper outfits to mock the two batsmen.
Australian coach Justin Langer had requested fans to show Smith and Warner respect and not boo them during the World Cup as the two had already paid the price for their mistake. But that hadn’t prevented England fans from targeting them.
In a round-robin game in the World Cup between England and Australia, Warner was booed throughout his innings of 53 off 61 balls. Even when he reached his half-century, boos rang out. However, Warner just smiled at the reaction from the crowd, offered a thumbs-up in the direction of the Australian dressing room and returned to his crease.
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