Fans dress as sandpaper to mock David Warner and Steve Smith; see pic

David Warner made his official comeback on June 1, 2019, against Afghanistan where he scored a fantastic knock of 89 runs. This was Warner’s first international match representing Australia after his ban was expired in March this year. Warner, however, played two warm-up matches ahead of World Cup but that doesn’t count.

Warner along with former Australia captain Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft was banned after they were found guilty of ball-tampering. The trio admitted of tampering the ball with sandpaper in a Test match against South Africa and were called back home mid-tour by Cricket Australia only to face a ban of one year.

On Saturday, Australia was playing Afghanistan in their first World Cup match where two spectators dressed up as sandpaper holding an image of a cricket ball to mock Steve Smith and David Warner. But this was not an isolated incident, Warner was booed by the crowd after he scored his half-century. In the warm-up matches as well, Smith and Warner were booed off by the crowd when they entered the ground.

Australia won the match against Afghanistan by 7 wickets as skipper Aaron Finch scored 66 and Warner scored 89 to chase down the target of 207 runs. Australia will play against West Indies on June 6 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

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