Last Updated: 11 July 2023, Author: AceOdds.com
Unravelling Fan Sentiment: An Analysis of Online Abuse in Ashes Cricket
New data reveals the Ashes stars who suffer the most abuse online after spiky second test at Lord’s.
A quick summary from AceOdds:
- Australian cricketers David Warner and Steve Smith are NOT well-liked by England fans - 95% of the comments online for both were negative.
- England cricketer Ben Duckett received just as much hate online from his own fans as Warner and Smith - with only 1 in 20 England fans saying something positive about him
- Ollie Robinson is Australia’s figure of hate in the England team - with 95% of negative comments about him online.
New data from AceOdds highlights the England and Australia cricketers that currently receive the most online abuse from opposition fans.
After tensions spilled over into a confrontation in the Lords long room during the second Ashes test last week, all hell broke loose. The clash at Lords saw players sworn at, heckled, and abused and resulted in three club members being suspended in a rare instance of face-to-face abuse in the game.
Online abuse is prevalent in many sports, and cricket has tried to combat it in the past. In 2021, the England Cricket Board ordered a 48-hour social media blackout to highlight the abuse players face on a day-to-day basis.
By measuring the social sentiment of tweets mentioning players in a negative light - as well as the public's reaction towards particular Facebook posts - AceOdds were able to conclude which cricket players suffer the most negativity online.
Australian Cricketers:
How do Australia fans feel about their own team?
Australia fans are more positive about their own team, with only 3 in 10 fans saying anything bad about them online.
Travis Head is the closest thing they have to a controversial figure, with a 50% split of positive and negative comments about him online by the Aussie faithful. And unlike the opinions from the opposition, Steve Smith has the most positive sentiment at 85%.
Player |
Australia fans positive sentiment |
Australia fans negative sentiment |
|---|---|---|
Travis Head |
50% |
50% |
Mitchell Starc |
60% |
40% |
Nathan Lyon |
60% |
40% |
David Warner |
70% |
30% |
Cameron Green |
70% |
30% |
Alex Carey |
70% |
30% |
Pat Cummins |
70% |
30% |
Josh Hazelwood |
70% |
30% |
Usman Khawaja |
80% |
20% |
Marnus Labuschagne |
80% |
20% |
Steve Smith |
85% |
15% |
Whole Team |
70% |
30% |
How do England fans feel about the opposition?
To the great surprise of no one, David Warner and Steve Smith are almost universally hated by England fans.
The main reason is likely the ball-tampering scandal that took place in 2018. In the third Test of the Australia-South Africa series, Warner and Smith were caught on camera using sandpaper to rough up the ball. Fans are yet to forgive the pair.
Player |
England fans positive sentiment |
England fans negative sentiment |
|---|---|---|
David Warner |
5% |
95% |
Steve Smith |
5% |
95% |
Mitchell Starc |
10% |
90% |
Nathan Lyon |
10% |
90% |
Marnus Labuschagne |
20% |
80% |
Travis Head |
20% |
80% |
Cameron Green |
20% |
80% |
Alex Carey |
20% |
80% |
Pat Cummins |
20% |
80% |
Josh Hazelwood |
30% |
70% |
Usman Khawaja |
40% |
60% |
Whole Team |
18% |
82% |
England Cricketers
How do England fans feel about their own team?
While the majority of them have more positive feelings towards them than negative ones, England players Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley receive the most flack from their own fans.
Shockingly, Ben Duckett received just as much hate online as David Warner and Steve Smith, as 95% of comments were perceived as negative. While this is likely due to Duckett’s performance during the test series, it’s still no less shocking.
Player |
England fans positive sentiment |
England fans negative sentiment |
|---|---|---|
Ben Duckett |
5% |
95% |
Zak Crawley |
20% |
80% |
Ollie Pope |
50% |
50% |
Stuart Broad |
60% |
40% |
Josh Tongue |
60% |
40% |
Jonny Bairstow |
70% |
30% |
Joe Root |
80% |
20% |
Harry Brook |
80% |
20% |
Ollie Robinson |
80% |
20% |
Ben Stokes |
90% |
10% |
James Anderson |
90% |
10% |
Whole Team |
62% |
38% |
How do Australia fans feel about the opposition?
By contrast, Australia fans’ figure of hate in the England side is Ollie Robinson by a country mile.
Robinson courted controversy early in the test following an expletive-ridden send-off of Usman Khawaja during the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston. Australian fans didn’t think highly of the tirade, and now only 5% of Aussie fans - 1 in 20 - have had anything nice to say about him.
Player |
Australia fans positive sentiment |
Australia fans negative sentiment |
|---|---|---|
Ollie Robinson |
5% |
95% |
Ben Duckett |
20% |
80% |
Josh Tongue |
20% |
80% |
Stuart Broad |
30% |
70% |
Zak Crawley |
40% |
60% |
Jonny Bairstow |
40% |
60% |
Joe Root |
50% |
50% |
Harry Brook |
50% |
50% |
Ben Stokes |
50% |
50% |
James Anderson |
50% |
50% |
Ollie Pope |
70% |
30% |
Whole Team |
39% |
61% |
Methodology
We asked Google Bard to analyse social media posts from the start of the Ashes first test on 16th June 2023 until 7th July 2023.
Bard was able to analyse posts across social media platforms Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram to understand the meaning behind words, phrases, and sentence structures to therefore determine if a post was positive or negative. Results within the tables were sorted based on most negative sentiment to least.
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