Former Australian coach Darren Lehmann slammed England fans for their chants at Australia's stand-in captain Steve Smith and dubbed some of them "pork chops"

Former Australian coach Darren Lehmann has hit out at England fans are aiming their banter at crybaby cheat Steve Smith during the first Ashes test.

Lehmann, 55, said England supporters ‘should be better’ than the ‘abuse’ they directed at the Aussie stars - particularly ball-tampering bounder Steve Smith.

Smith, 36, has been a target of chants and boos since he was sacked as captain and banned from the game for a year for his role in the 2018 ball-fiddling scandal.

When he came out to bat in the first innings of the Perth Test last week England supporters taunted him with ‘we saw you cry on the telly’ - a nod to his sobbing TV appearance after being axed as skipper.

Lehmann, who was cleared of wrongdoing but resigned as Aussie coach in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal, tore into England’s supporters who saw their team lose in two days after batting collapses in both innings.

“The abuse you get is daily,” Lehmann said. “It is unbelievable. In England they just don’t forget. It is like they have never done anything wrong in their life. It is only the ones that drink too much and carry on like pork chops.”

He said Smith was ‘playing every day’ and it ‘would be worse for him’. The scandal scarred Smith’s record as Australia’s captain.

During a Test against South Africa he admitted the team’s ‘leadership group’ devised a plan to tamper with the ball.

Former opener David Warner taught batter Cameron Bancroft how to use sandpaper to rough up the ball. Bancroft was then caught doing so by TV cameras during play. Both men were banned along with Smith.

Smith made his comeback in the 2019 Ashes Test at Edgbaston and has been booed repeatedly since.

Lehmann said: “We did the wrong thing, accept it and move on. You try to move on the best you can. You get reminded every day and that is part and parcel. Steve Smith can hold his head high with how he handles everything.

“The Barmy Army should be better than that. Most of them are and are very supportive of what goes on in the game.”

In Perth England fans responded to cricket legend Monty Panesar’s plea to find a new song to rattle Smith after he mocked the spinner’s 2019 Celebrity Mastermind disaster when he got just one general knowledge question right.

Smith lashed out after Monty suggested England skipper Ben Stokes should stick the boot in over ball-tampering.

Monty urged the Barmy Army to defend him by sledging Smith when he came out to bat - and they did not disappoint standing in unity to mock his tearful TV meltdown.