Travis Head has slammed those sections of the MCG crowd booing Mitch Marsh as "poor" and disappointing", calling on them to be more supportive during the rest of the Boxing Day Test.
Marsh incurred the wrath of some of the 73,516 fans that attended day one of the third Test between Australia and India, who voiced their displeasure at the allrounder's recall.
Victorian Peter Handscomb was axed to accommodate Marsh, who has already delivered 15 overs and offered Australia's pacemen much-needed relief on the docile drop-in pitch.
Marsh was booed at the start of his first and second spells, with the noise heard loud and clear by unimpressed members of Australia's XI.
"It was pretty poor for Mitch to cop that," Head told reporters.
"I don't think it's great.
"As he showed today, he's a great team man. Great fella. He worked his backside off for the boys, did a wonderful job.
"It's disappointing, hopefully that won't be the case for the next couple of days."
Pantomime villains like Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Stuart Broad have been booed by Australian crowds in recent years but it's far more unusual for Australian cricketers to be treated with such disdain at home.
"I don't think any Australian cricketer in Australia deserves to get booed," Head said.
Head also previously suggested, during the first Test in his hometown of Adelaide, that fans were wrong to boo Kohli.
Michael Clarke was notably booed by fans at the Gabba in 2011, at which point he was serving as stand-in skipper while Australia reeled from a rare Ashes series loss at home.
"Obviously you would like people to be cheering but I can understand why a few of them are booing," Clarke said after leading Australia to victory in that ODI against England.
"I haven't performed as well as I would like.
"So I don't blame the public for being disappointed with my performances."
Head noted Marsh was not affected by the noise.
"Mitch is a character who gets on with it," he said.
"He bowled exceptionally well."
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