In 2018, Cricket Australia was hit with a massive ball-tampering scandal when David Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft were accused of changing the condition of the ball with the help of sandpaper. The Aussies were playing South Africa in Cape Town.
All the players were banned from playing international cricket for one year and when they came back, they had to earn their places in the side. The Australians will be going to tour South Africa later this month and Warner is all set to return to the place where the infamous accident took place.
Speaking about the upcoming series, Warner revealed that it will not be much hard for him to go there and perform. Later in the discussion, he also noted that the crowd would be quite “hostile” towards him and is hoping to get the much-needed respect from the Rainbow Nation.
“For me personally, it would not be hard at all. Obviously, it is going to be very hostile. I copped it in England; I actually enjoyed that and played along with it,” Warner said.
“They are a great bunch of people who come along and they are great supporters of the game. Hopefully, we are shown some respect when we go over to Africa and the things that happen in the past stay there,” Warner said during an interview.
The recently concluded series between England and South Africa had a lot of heated moments. Players like Ben Stokes, Vernon Philander, Jos Buttler, Kagiso Rabada, and Stuart Broad were all charged for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct. Rabada received a demerit point and was banned for one game.
When asked if people can expect such fiery scenes while playing once again, the left-hand opening batsman shared that the formats that they played and we are going to play are different. The Aussies will not play a Test series and only resort to playing white-ball cricket during the tour.
“It is not a test match series and it is a quick turnaround with the T20s and one-dayers. You do not really have any time to worry about anything or listen to anything,” Warner noted.
All the members of the team that came to India for the ODI series went back and played Big Bash League for their respective sides. But Warner chose to take some rest and prepare for the upcoming tours. Warner said that he learned an important lesson when he was banned from playing.
“Leading into that South Africa tour, we played a lot of cricket. I actually put my hand up to go to New Zealand and captain the (T20) team, (while) a couple of other guys had a break and guys went to South Africa earlier. It’ is about putting your hand up and knowing how much cricket you have actually played. I just felt like I did not need to play the Big Bash,” Warner concluded.
Australia tour of South Africa starts from February 21 with a three-match T20 International series, followed by a three-match ODI series commencing from February 29.
