Keep on booing! England captain Morgan happy for fans to boo Australian cheats

Eoin Morgan has told supporters they can jeer Steve Smith and David Warner at Lord's on Tuesday in the heavyweight World Cup clash England dare not lose.

The first full meeting of the oldest enemies in the sport since the disgraced pair returned from bans after the 'Sandpapergate' cheating scandal has become England's biggest one-day match since the last World Cup.

And on Monday Morgan refused to back the plea of Australia coach Justin Langer for the crowd to go easy on the pair and won't emulate India captain Virat Kohli, who told his supporters to lay off Smith earlier in the tournament.

'No, not at all,' said the England captain when asked if he would urge supporters not to boo. 'I would never use the position I'm in to influence fans or try to influence the game.

'The pair have committed something and served their penalty, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are going to be welcomed back into the cricketing community. Regaining trust takes a lot of time.

'Who knows how long it will take? I don't think I could do anything, or should do anything, to try to influence the fans to change their mind. I did see what Virat did and I thought about it for a long time. I thought about whether it was the right thing to do and whether it would help, but it didn't sit right with me.

'The crowd pay their money and they can do what they want.'

But Morgan was warned that any barracking could backfire on England by Australia captain Aaron Finch, who knows his side can strike a potentially fatal blow to England's chances by inflicting their third defeat.

'Whatever the public do you're not going to change it,' said Finch. 'Whether anyone comes out and says do or don't, it's going to happen. It hasn't affected our boys one bit. If anything it has given them a bit more motivation.'

Jonny Bairstow pointed out in his newspaper column on Monday the double standards in former Australia coach Darren Lehmann telling the Australian public to 'make Stuart Broad cry' ahead of the 2013-14 Ashes and Langer now calling on England fans to go easy on Smith and Warner.

But Bairstow, who was subjected to personal abuse by Warner on the field during the last Ashes, got on well with the most controversial figure in cricket when they played together in the IPL this year.

'The great thing about domestic tournaments is they have opened everyone's eyes to the fact that 99 per cent of the people you play with and against are good blokes,' said Finch. 

'It's like anyone who has played with Davey. They see a side of him when they play against him and they see a different side when they play with him. He's a great man.'

Source: Daily Mail

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