5 times Steven Smith brought shame to cricket
Following all the drama of ball-tampering, Cricket Australia have finally announced their verdict by punishing the now-sacked captain Steven Smith and vice-captain David Warner, and also penalising newcomer Cameron Bancroft. The latter two cannot represent Australia for the next one year while the former will be out for nine months, though all three have the option of challenging the verdict.
However, in the case of Smith and Warner, this was not the first case when misconduct or unsporting behaviour on the ground attracted the attention of the authorities. While Warner's stories go back a long way, Sportskeeda traces 5 instances when Smith's actions or words brought shame to the game of cricket.
#5 Outburst on umpiring decision, Christchurch 2016
On Day four of the Christchurch Test between New Zealand and Australia in 2016, Smith and pacer Josh Hazlewood got into a controversy when an umpiring decision went against Australia. In the last over before lunch, Kane Williamson was ruled not out by on-field umpire Ranmore Martinesz following a huge LBW appeal by Hazlewood.
Smith immediately referred it to the third umpire Richard Illingworth, who found a small Hot Spot mark beside the bottom of Williamson's inside edge, thus sticking with Martinesz's decision. The visitors, however, seemed convinced that the spot arose with Williamson's bat trudging his boot. That made Smith have a word with Martinesz while Hazlewood was heard on the stump microphone saying, “Who the f*** is the third umpire?”
As a result, Smith was fined 30% of his match fee while Hazlewood was docked half the amount, after which Smith later said, "I'll cop that on the chin and I need to be better as a leader."