First they were bundled out of the Champions Trophy before the semifinals, not England fans have found a new reason to complain after a moment of sportsmanship from Aussie skipper Steve Smith.  

Australia avoided a repeat of the Jonny Bairstow stumping controversy after deciding to withdraw an appeal during their Champions Trophy clash with Afghanistan in Lahore.

Afghanistan had just run a single to take the score to 8-248 at the end of the 47th over when tail-ender Noor Ahmad made his way to the middle of the pitch to talk to his teammate.

Australia wicketkeeper Josh Inglis whipped off the bails as soon as Noor left his crease, and the on-field umpires sent the half-hearted appeal to the third umpire.

There was no doubt that Noor was well and truly out of his crease, and under the letter of the law he would have been given out, as the over wasn’t officially completed.

But just before the third umpire could analyse the vision, Australia captain Steve Smith approached the on-field umpires to withdraw the appeal.

While Ahmad would have been out under the laws of the game, captain Steve Smith withdrew their appeal

It was a vastly different outcome to what occurred during the 2023 Ashes in England, when wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw down the stumps after Bairstow had walked down the pitch thinking the over had finished.

Australia captain Pat Cummins went ahead with the appeal on that occasion, with Bairstow’s dismissal playing a vital role in England’s loss at Lord’s.

While many have applauded Smith’s decision, disgruntled English supporters who haven’t forgiven or forgotten the Bairstow incident were left fuming.

‘Oh so Aussies can be sporting after all?! There’s always a first right?’ one raged on social media.

‘A concession they got the other one wrong too. Never the wrong time to do the right thing I guess,’ posted another.

‘Finally. Smitty has shown a bit of sportsmanship. I didn’t think he had it in him,’ another disgruntled fan posted. 

‘Where have I seen this before? Seems like Australia only enforce this if it’s against England…’ grumbled another.

While English supporters could not see the positive side of Smith withdrawing his appeal, plenty of cricket fans praised the stand-in captain for his actions.

Jonny Bairstow was not as lucky in The Ashes, when he was stumped walking out of his crease and Test captain Pat Cummins followed through with his appeal

Smith has been praised for his sportsmanship in making the call that spared Ahmad an embarrassing walk back to the sheds

‘Steve Smith playing cricket, the gentleman’s way! Withdraws the run-out appeal, wins respect,’ one fan posted.

‘Really great sportsmanship from Steve Smith on withdrawing the appeal on what would have been a Bairstow 2.0 moment. Been redeeming himself quite a bit since sandpapergate. Great to see,’ posted another. 

After Smith withdrew the appeal on Friday, Afghanistan went on to make 25 more runs in the last three overs before being dismissed for 273 on the final ball of the innings.

Smith’s men were racing towards victory on 1-109 after 12.5 overs before heavy rain hit Lahore, forcing the match to be abandoned as a no-result and sealing Australia’s place in the semi-finals.