Eoin Morgan won’t tell England fans how to receive David Warner & Steve Smith at Lord’s clash

Tuesday is a big day in ICC World Cup 2019 as hosts England will take on holders Australia in their league match at Lord’s. It is particularly an important game for England for a surprise defeat to Sri Lanka in their last game has put the Three Lions in a spot. England have three matches left in the league and all of them are against teams that are placed above them in the points table.

Australia, on the other hand, are placed second with 10 points and another win will certainly book their spot in the semi-finals. Aaron Finch’s side will also be looking forward to avenging the 0-5 loss that they had suffered against their rivals in England last year. But apart from the cricketing aspects, the other top draw of this game will be David Warner and Steve Smith. The two cricketers, who returned after a year-long ban because of a ball-tampering scandal, have been continuously booed ever since they set their foot on the English soil.

It will be interesting to see how the crowd treats them at Lord’s on Tuesday and whether the home captain has any role to play, just like his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli did at the Oval a few weeks ago. Morgan, however, has said that it is not his job to tell the supporters how to react to the tainted Australian duo during the match.

Australia coach Justin Langer has appealed to the fans to not to taunt the duo. And besides Kohli, Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has also sought relief for them.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the match, Morgan said: “I’m not expecting anything. I think fans and supporters up and down the country will have different reactions, as they will around the world. So we’ll see.” The New Indian Express cited reports quoted him as saying so.

Since Lord’s is revered as the ‘home of cricket’, the traditionally polite audience is expected not to behave the way those at some other venues do. Smith was booed even after he scored a hundred against England in a warm-up game in Southampton ahead of the tournament.

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It will take time

Morgan even said that just because Warner and Smith have been punished and they served their punishment and returned to the 22 yards, it did not mean that they would be accepted back into the cricket community straight away. “It will take time,” he said.

Meanwhile, England batsman Jonny Bairstow accused Australia of double standards. He said while on the one hand, fans were being told to go easy on Warner and Smith, former Australia coach Darren Lehmann had previously asked the supporters to verbally target England pacer Stuart Broad during an Ashes series played in Australia.

While the mercury seems to be soaring high ahead of the big clash, England will need to get things together on the ground. Another loss could make the road for the No.1 side in ODIs to qualify for the semi-finals challenging. A lot of teams will also pray for an Australian win for that will open up the race for the No.4 position in the points table. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, West Indies and Pakistan will be eager to see Finch’s side win the game.