Steve Smith is booed as he receives the man of the match award over Ben Stokes

Australian Steve Smith was roundly booed after being named man of the match in the second Ashes Test at Lords on Sunday.

The Lords crowd had spoken out against the tourists after Jonny Bairstow was controversially sent off for Alex Carey earlier in the day, with the former captain continuing to bear the brunt of the taunts after the game ended.

Smith scored a vital first hundred innings as the tourists took a 2-0 series lead with a 43-run win, but the crowd made it clear they felt a local player was more deserving of the award.

Ben Stokes scored a remarkable 155 in the fourth innings as England came close to posting an unlikely chase of 371.

It conjured up memories of a similar innings playing at Headingley in 2019, but the England captain went down with 70 still needed when Smith took the catch.

Some would say that Ben Stokes was more deserving of the award after making an exciting forty-hundred innings, albeit in a losing effort.

The Lords crowd made their feelings known when they booed Smith during the post-match introduction.

Smith had dropped Stokes earlier in the innings but ended up costing Australia little as they removed England’s tail with relative ease.

With fans booing throughout his post-match interview, the batsman said of Stokes’ hit: “There was a bit of deja vu there, he’s an incredible player.”

“Some of the things he can achieve in the game of cricket, he’s an oddball. The way he did it, he was just aiming that way, he was hitting them down the hill and then hitting the other end.

“Obviously I dropped it, so I kind of felt it there, I think that was the first shot he tried to take from the other end when he came out, so luckily it went up the chimney, but yeah, an incredible hit.”

The taunts followed something of a bad-tempered final day in the cricket house that began with Green’s sacking of Bairstow at the 10am session.

The former captain played a big part on the final day when he dropped Ben Stokes during his most destructive spell.

He later held on for a vital catch which saw the England captain dismissed for a well done 155

Alex Carey tossed the stumps after the England man had distractedly wandered out of his crease, leading some to complain that Australia should not have appealed as they were not trying to gain an advantage.

New batsman Stuart Broad, who never backed down from an argument, told the Australian keeper that he would “always be remembered for that” and deliberately placed his bat behind the line after every pitch.

The crowd also turned on tourists after the incident, with the MCC forced to apologize after Usman Khawaja and David Warner were confronted by members in the famous Long Room.

Australia now lead the Ashes 2-0, meaning Ben Stokes’ side will need to win each of the three remaining Tests if they are to win the Ashes back.