Former Australia captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner have reached South Africa for the first time after their infamous ball-tampering scandal in 2018. Because of the incident, they faced a ban of one year as well. However, they have been expecting some flak from the South Africa fans. Cameron Bancroft, although is not on this tour, Warner and Smith will be targeted by boos and taunting.
“There’s no doubt we’re going to cop a bit of flak from the South African crowds,” Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh said. “I think it’s really important we cop it with a smile on our face. We know what’s happening.”
However, a three-match T20I series will begin on Friday at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg and later both Australia and South Africa will play three one-day internationals.
“Our guys are expecting that,” Australia captain Aaron Finch said. “Regardless of what I think, the crowd are going to act however they please so I don’t think it’s going to make much difference to us.”
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Moreover, Warner had a past of sledging. He and South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock who will lead the side for this series — had a heated confrontation on the dressing room stairs during the first test and they had to pull apart by teammates. Because of that, South African crowds targeted him in the second test as well.
“We’ve talked a lot about this in the team, changing culture,” coach Justin Langer said. “It’s a great game and you want to see good battles between skills, between the batters and the bowlers. And we want to see it played in great spirit. From an Australian cricket point of view, I think we’ve shown that we’re ready to embrace that. We’ve done it for 18 months now and there’s absolutely no reason why that won’t continue.”
“I would plead with South African fans to respect our opponents and don’t go overboard with these things,” interim Cricket South Africa CEO Jacques Faul told Australian media.
“Warner will cop it. South African supporters are like that. The bottom line is David made his bed and he’s got to lie in it,” Mike Haysman, an Australian and former player who lives in South Africa and commentates on cricket, told Australia’s Wide World of Sports.
