Former Australian head coach Darren Lehmann has slammed England’s Barmy Army for targeting Steve Smith with sandpaper sledge in the first Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series.

Smith, who was Australia’s stand-in captain in the Ashes opener at Perth, was mocked by travelling England fans for his involvement in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal

Smith was one of the three cricketers banned by Cricket Australia after cameras caught the Aussies tampering with the ball using sandpaper during the Cape Town against South Africa in March 2018.

Lehmann, who was serving the Australian team as head coach during that phase, said the culprits have already paid the price for ball-tampering episode, and the relentless borderline abuse is unwarranted.

“You copy it every day," Lehmann revealed on ABC Sport. “Yesterday (at Perth Stadium) I would have copped it maybe 20 or 30 times; obviously we made a mistake, but we paid the price—it borders on abuse."

According to Lehmann, the constant abuse is not good for Smith’s mental health but he is proud of the way Australian players have handled the issue.

“It’s not great for your mental health, to be perfectly honest," Lehmann said. “But the way Smith, Warner and Bancroft have come out the other side, that’s been exceptional. I’m really proud of the way they’ve handled it."

“It’s eight years ago, and you try and move on as best you can, but he (Steve Smith) is still playing every day, so it would be a lot worse for him, the abuse he gets," he added.

Lehmann slammed Barmy Army and asked if the ones targeting Smith for what happened eight years ago have not done anything wrong in their lives.

“In England they just don’t forget; it’s like they’ve never done anything wrong in their life. The Barmy Army should be better than that, and most of them are—it’s only the ones who drink too much and carry on like pork chops."

Australia won the Perth Test by eight wickets to go 1-0 up in the five-Test series. The second Ashes Test will be played in Brisbane from December 4.