World Cup 2019: Australian coach Langer requests crowd not to boo Steve Smith, David Warner

Following their stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Australian batsmen joined the Australian national team camp in the UK for the 2019 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. However, they dint get the best possible welcome as the duo were booed by the crowd during the World Cup warm-up games.

Australia head coach Justin Langer has pleaded to the crowd in England not to boo Steve Smith and David Warner, who made a return into the Australia squad after serving bans for their involvement in ball-tampering scandal in a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town last year. Following their stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Australian batsmen joined the Australian national team camp in the UK for the 2019 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. However, they dint get the best possible welcome as the duo were booed by the crowd during the World Cup warm-up games. "We have talked about it a lot. We are expecting it. That said, when it happens, it doesn't make it any easier. You can take about it as much as you like but that doesn't make it any easier. I mean they are human beings, and that's the truth. That's where I find it hard. I am a dad, and I have got kids. A lot of the time, players feel like they are my kids," ESPNcricinfo quoted Langer as saying. "And you see that happen. You know you feel for them personally. They are going to have to have thick skin. We have talked about earning respect. I think it is really important that people show some respect as well. Because they are humans, they are really good cricketers. They made a mistake. They have paid the price for it. Big price actually. I feel for them as people more than anything else," he said. "After the experience of the other day at Hampshire, I think they have got a pretty good idea what to expect. And, as I said, you can talk about it as much as you like, you can put strategies in place to make sure they deal with it, but no human likes it. That is the truth. As professional cricketers, they will put that out of their mind. They will go and do their job but no one likes that," the head coach added. Langer further said that he will be disappointed to see any cricketer getting booed in the stadium. "I will be disappointed any day if any cricketer is booed on a cricket ground. Regardless of what country they play for. It is not the spirit that any of us like to see. Obviously, it hurts because I have got an emotional attachment, and personal attachment, to our players. But it is never a good look, is it, when that happens," he said.