Humiliating As English Media Gives Embarrassing Reaction To Steve Smith's Ton

Steve Smith, on Thursday (August 1), played a sublime knock to mark his comeback in Test cricket in style. The former Australia skipper scored a valiant ton to rescue Australia against England on day one of the Ashes-opener at Edgbaston. Australia had lost both of their openers – David Warner and Cameron Bancroft – when Steve Smith walked out to bat with the scoreboard reading just 17.

Usman Khawaja soon departed to leave his side reeling at 35 for 3. Travis Head provided some resistance but once he was dismissed after lunch, Australia lost wickets in a flurry and found themselves 8 down for 122. But before England could make further inroads in the game, the ever-reliable Smith came to Australia’s rescue.

He added 88 for the ninth wicket with Peter Siddle (44) and then took the attack to England to reach his 24th Test hundred and stayed on to reach 144 in his first Test since the ball-tampering scandal. The star batsman was the last man out when he was castled by Stuart Broad while going for a big shot. Smith’s dismissal ended his 74-run stand with Nathan Lyon who remained unbeaten on 12. Jason Roy and Rory Burns then negotiated a tricky two-over spell to take England to 10-0 at stumps. For England, Stuart Broad was the star with the ball, picking up 5 for 86.

But while the cricket fraternity was busy praising Smith for one of the best knocks in Test cricket, English media could not come forward with praise. They tried all they could to associate the sandpaper gate with Smith’s heroic ton in order to spoil his day.

Here are some of the reactions from the English media:

“Should’ve banned him for life,”wrote The Sun.

Mirror, on the other hand, took a subtle dig at Smith, writing:

“I can handle rough stuff.”

Daily Express also wrote their narrative on the similar lines, writing:

“Smith draws a line in the sand.”

Daily Star were also innovative with their headline, writing:

“Just boo good.”