Steve Smith has come under fire from AFL great Kane Cornes over his antics during NSW’s Sheffield Shield loss to Victoria.
The star batsman had a shocker at the MCG, scoring just three runs across his two innings during his first Shield match in almost five years.
Smith was on Tuesday dismissed via LBW by a red hot Scott Boland for a four-ball duck.
The 35-year-old was given out shouldering arms to an in-swinger from Boland that skidded into his front pad; he made no attempt to hide his frustration, shaking his head the entire way back to the sheds.
It is his continual refusal to accept dismissals that has previously resulted in public criticism being directed at the Aussie vice-captain.
Cornes is the latest to join in, saying Smith had set a “shocking example” as a leader in the team.
“There’s some things that I’ve been very right on and things that I’ve been very wrong on in a media career, but one of them (being right) is that Steve Smith is just the most self-absorbed Australian athlete that we have,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.
“It’s never his fault. He leaves a straight ball that’s going to smash into the stumps. I reckon you should use your bat if it’s close to the stumps.
“He leaves one. And then it’s the umpire’s fault. It’s never, ever his fault. He tickles one down leg side it’s the umpire’s fault. Or if he misses it’s the pitch’s fault.
“This is the former captain of the side … what a shocking example. Can’t have it. I’m sorry.”
Boland also had little sympathy for his Aussie teammate.
“They can talk about it all they want,” Boland said.
“I thought it was out. It only has to hit the stumps when you don’t use your bat like that.”
Smith was last summer called “petulant” for his stroppy behaviour in the immediate aftermath of the umpire raising his finger.
At the Sydney Test against Pakistan last summer, Smith was sucked into a trap where the tourists stacked three fielders at cover — and it was on the very first ball that the batter chipped an easy catch from a delivery outside off stump.
Smith was seen motionless hand-on-hip staring down at the pitch after Babar Azam took the catch.
His defiant pose could only be interpreted as one thing — blaming the pitch.
He eventually walked off with one final stroppy hand-raise gesture.
SEN cricket commentator Adam White wrote on Twitter at the time: “Nothing to do with the pitch. Smith’s ego got the better of him.
“Standing there in disbelief like ‘how could you possibly get me out’ isn’t a good look.”
News Corp’s Julian Linden was also scathing, writing in a column: “Smith and (Marnus) Labuschagne’s trait for standing around and shaking their heads in disbelief is starting to look petulant and unbefitting for batters of their class.”
Smith is expected to return to his preferred position at No. 4 in the Test side this summer.
He will enter the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the midst of an uncharacteristic form slump, with his most recent first-class scores being 0, 3, 9, 11, 0 and 31.
Having been selected in Australia’s ODI squad to face Pakistan, Smith will not play any more competitive red ball cricket before the First Test against India begins on November 22.
