Steve Smith will always be remembered as a cheater
While most of England has forgotten about Steve Smith's actions a year back, former England pacer Steve Harmison clearly hasn't.
Smith has won over the English crowd with his batting prowess and grit in the summer as Australia retained the Ashes after a win at Old Trafford, Manchester. But, Harmison is in no mood to forgive and forget.
"I don't think you can forgive him," Harmison told talkSPORT.
"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.
"Whatever Steve Smith does, he'll always be remembered for what happened in South Africa.
"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."
Smith's heroics however, has been largely appreciated and applauded in England. Following the intial period, where he along with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were booed by the audience, Smith's bat has done the talking and silenced the rowdy crowd in England.
Smith has been leading the way for the Aussies and has achieved Don Bradman-esque status during the ongoing Test series with his batting. The 28-year-old has already slammed 671 runs in five innings so far at an average of 134.20, including three centuries. Two of them came in a match-winning effort in the first Test.
Tim Paine, who replaced Smith as Australia's test captain last year, on Sunday described the No. 4 batsman as the "best player I have ever seen."
And Paine had a warning which Root's England is likely to take seriously ahead of the fifth test in cricket's oldest regular international series.
Smith "is just a genius and I never had any doubt he would come back and be the player he was," Paine said. "The scary thing is he's getting better."
The New South Wales boy himself was a happy man after ticking one off his bucket list.
"I've been here a few times when things haven't quite gone our way or we haven't performed to the best of our ability. To come back and get the urn here was always one to tick off my bucket list," Smith said in a post-match TV interview at Old Trafford.
