Having led South Africa to another successful tour of Australia with 2-1 ODI series and standalone T20I wins, skipper Faf du Plessis has said that he felt a sudden shift in ideology from the Aussies on the field during the short limited overs trip, which is born purely out of the pressure meandering around players following the infamous ball-tampering incident and the subsequent ethics and culture review.
In March 2018, Cricket Australia banned Steve Smith, David Warner for one year and Cameron Bancroft for a period of 9 months, after the trio was found out guilty of the offence where they were deliberately trying to alter the condition of the ball during the Cape Town Test against South Africa using a piece of sandpaper.
The incident raised allegations and doubts about the moral and ethical values of the kind of culture that Australian Cricket seems to have developed over the years.
This is when the earlier head coach Darren Lehmann resigned from his position despite his contract not expiring till the completion of Ashes 2019.
“They were tame; you could sense why‚” Du Plessis reflected back at the softened nature of the Australian players during the concluded series, “It’s difficult to experience the hurt that Australian cricket is going through if you’re not there; the public is angry at what happened.”
Further on the extremely bans that were lashed out on Smith, Warner and Bancroft, Faf said, "CA have been firm in the sanctions they handed down‚ A lot of people asked them to change them but they have remained firm because they see how much it has affected the general support. They were really hurt."
"What was it like playing against suddenly touchy-feely Aussies‚ and how long might that last?," he questioned though, “You understand why they are doing it. You understand why they want to play a different brand of cricket."
“There are a lot of eyes on them; the style they play and the way they carry themselves as cricketers but also as people. I understand where it’s coming from," and said, "They’ve got really good cricketers and they’ll find out over the next six months or so if it’s really something they believe in. Not that he was going soft on the opponents who have come down the hardest on South Africa over the years."
Faf, now one of the most successful captains to have played in Australia with all format series wins down under, also talked about what really brought out the best from him while playing there, and said, “I remember like it was yesterday about the pain and the hurt and the embarrassment and the scars [other South Africa teams] got in Australia; about always going there and always losing. It’s been something that motivated me. I love playing there‚ it brings the best out of me."
“Always‚ when there’s a fight‚ it brings the best out of my character. I’m trying to find that same recipe when I play against other people. Maybe I must go pick a fight,” he signed off.
(Inputs from Times Live)
