Australia dominated Day 4 as they took control of the first Test match against England at Edgbaston on Monday, June 19. But that was not enough to silence the home crowd, who came under highlight for their chants at Australian players, particularly at Steve Smith. English fans reminded the former Australian captain of the infamous Sandpaper Gate scandal that happened five years ago with a new chant.
The incident occurred when Smith moved to boundaries near Eric Hollies Stand while fielding. The Eric Hollies Stand is infamous for their adjectives at opponent players and they didn't miss the opportunity to take a dig at Smith. They started chanting 'Steve, we saw you cry on the telly' and soon the entire crowd joined them.
The chant was at Smith's reaction to the infamous Sandpaper Gate scandal that happened in March 2018. Steve Smith-led Australian side was involved in a ball-tampering incident in a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town. Cameron Bancroft used sandpaper on the ball and the camera caught that incident, which shocked the cricketing world.
After Day 3, Smith admitted that he was aware of the plan to use sandpaper and apologized to fans and involved parties for allowing it. Smith received a 12-month ban from Cricket Australia and also lost his captaincy. Smith accepted sanctions by ICC and Cricket Australia and broke down in a press conference while delivering a message to the fans.
Meanwhile, the traveling side need just 174 runs to win the first Ashes match with seven wickets at hand. Captain Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon dominated Day 4 with four wickets each to bowl out England on just 273 runs. First innings' centurion Usman Khawaja and David Warner gave Australia a good start in their chase but Stuart Broad took two valuable wickets of Smith and Marnus Labuschagne's to give England slim hopes ahead of the last day.
