Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has condemned English crowds for booing Steve Smith after he suffered a blow to the head during the second Ashes cricket Test at Lord’s.
Smith is in doubt for the third Ashes Test after being substituted out of the second Test at Lord’s with delayed concussion symptoms.
Australia’s most important batsman retired hurt after being struck by a Joffra Archer bouncer on day four, then returned to bat after passing concussion tests.
On his return to the crease he was greeted by jeers from sections of the crowd before being dismissed for 92.
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READ NOWMorrison added his voice to the chorus of Australians who criticised the crowd behaviour.
“It was a total Ashes foul for the crowd at Lords to boo Steve Smith,” wrote Morrison in a Facebook post on Monday.
“His performance on the pitch during his return to Test Match cricket in the UK demands nothing other than respect.
“The crowd could learn a thing or two from Steve Smith and I look forward to him answering his hecklers with bat and ball in hand to bring home the Ashes.”
English supporters group the Barmy Army have distanced themselves from the booing.
“We are not at Lord's and we are not booing Steve Smith,” read a statement from the group posted on Twitter.
Smith woke up on Sunday’s fifth day with a headache and other symptoms, prompting Australia to replace him with Marnus Labuschagne - international cricket’s first concussion substitute after the policy was introduced at the start of this series.
That Smith was allowed to resume his innings raised eyebrows, but CA’s sports medicine manager Alex Kountouris noted about 30 per cent of concussions did not present symptoms immediately.
“The reality is that only about one in five or one in six head impacts end up being concussions,” he told reporters on Monday.
“So we just need to monitor them and we have a good protocol in place.
“If you look at that game, there was three other head impacts and only Steve developed a concussion.
“If we pulled out every player who had a head impact, we’d be pulling out 80 per cent of players who don’t have a concussion. That would be an overreaction.”
With AAP