Former Australian coach Darren Lehmann has hit out on social media in response to fans being handed pieces of sandpaper on their way to Australia’s opening ODI loss to England at The Oval.

Lehmann tweeted “your (sic) better than that?” to British journalist Alison Mitchell after she posted a photo of sandpaper four and six cards being handed out to the crowd.

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The pieces of “Australian ball-tampering grade sandpaper” were part of an advertising stunt and it’s understood 5000 sandpaper cards were confiscated in the ground.

It was an unsubtle reference to Australia’s sandpaper ball-tampering scandal as they played their first international match since that ill-fated South African tour which led to long bans on skipper Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft.

Rookie Australian captain Tim Paine admitted before the game that his new-look team expected to cop plenty of flak from the English crowds.

Paine and Shaun Marsh were the only two players in the starting line-up that played in the infamous Cape Town Test, and the skipper indicated there hadn’t been much ribbing from the sell-out crowd aimed at his players.

“I’m pretty lucky being in the middle I can’t hear anything,” Paine said.



“I haven’t spoken to the (other guys) but there wasn’t any talk of copping too much stick out there which is nice.

“Maybe if we win a few games they might.”