After Steve Smith’s phenomenal run in the ongoing Ashes, England captain Joe Root hailed him as the difference between the two sides and said that if the right-hander was taken out of proceedings, there was not much to differentiate between the two sides. “If you take Steve Smith out, it would be very similar for both teams. It has been a series dominated by the ball. Both batting sides have very experienced players who have not performed how they would have liked and that tells a story by itself,” Root said after the match.
However, former England fast bowler Steve Harmison believes that irrespective of what Smith achieved on the field, the cricketing world would always remember him as a cheat.
“I don’t think you can forgive him. When you’re known as a cheat – and he is, I’m not going to sugar-coat it – that’s on your CV. You’re marked and you take it to the grave,” Harmison told talkSPORT.
“Whatever Steve Smith does, he’ll always be remembered for what happened in South Africa,” he further added.
“That’s something he’s got to live with. I can’t see anyone’s opinion changing on Smith, Bancroft, or Warner – because they’ve tarnished the game,” Harmison went on to add.
After making a comeback from the ban slapped on him due to the ball-tampering scandal, Smith has been in irrepressible form in the Ashes. He has amassed 671 runs and has become the second-fastest batsman to register 26 Test centuries.
Australia skipper Tim Paine heaped praises at team-mate Steve Smith, describing him as the ‘best player he has ever seen’.
“He is pretty handy, I won’t lie. He is the best player I have ever seen. Obviously, his 200 was phenomenal but yesterday to push the game forward put England under pressure. He has got a lot of courage to take teams on,” Paine said after the match.
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