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Former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann has slammed England's Barmy Army for holding 'sandpapergate' against Steve Smith even though seven years have passed since the incident in Cape Town during a Test against South Africa. Lehmann said that the players have already paid the price for ball-tampering and the relentless borderline abuse is unwarranted.
“You copy it every day,” Lehmann revealed on ABC Sport. “Yesterday (at Perth Stadium) I would have copped it maybe twenty or thirty times, obviously we made a mistake but we paid the price—it borders on abuse.”
The former Australia Test player said that the constant abuse is not good for Smith’s mental health. He is proud of how Smith, former Australian opener David Warner and discarded batter Cameron Bancroft have handled themselves after the unfortunate incident which resulted a ban from all forms of cricket as well.
“It’s not great for your mental health to be perfectly honest,” Lehmann admitted. “But the way Smith, Warner and Bancroft have come out the other side, that’s been exceptional, I’m really proud of the way they’ve handled it.”
Lehmann tears into Barmy Army’s behaviour
Lehmann pointed out that England’s Barmy Army are not just willing to let go of the sandpaper incident. He expects better from the England fans.
“It’s eight years ago and you try and move on as best you can, but he (Steve Smith) is still playing every day, so it would a lot worse for him, the abuse he gets,” Lehmann said.
“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.”
Australia off to a dominating start
Meanwhile, Australia have taken a 1-0 lead in the Ashes 2025-26 in the absence of veteran pacer duo Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. After Starc took 10 wickets including a seven-fer in the first innings, Travis Head opened the innings in the run chase and smashed an unbeaten 123. Australia registered a comprehensive eight-wicket win within two days. The next Test will be played at The Gabba, Brisbane, starting December 4.
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