Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO Jacques Faul urged fans in the country to forget the ill-fated ball-tampering saga and show respect towards Australian veterans Steve Smith, David Warner as they return to face the Proteas in a limited-overs series, beginning February 21, two years after the Newlands scandal.
Warner and Smith were banned for a year each after their involvement in trying to alter the condition of the ball by rubbing sandpaper on the red cherry during the 2018 Cape Town Test, which the passionate fans in the rainbow nation are expected to remind them about in the coming weeks.
"I would plead with South African fans to respect our opponents and don’t go overboard with these things (referring to Smith and Warner)," Faul told The Herald. "It’s competitive on the field, and we don’t need it. Sport in general doesn’t need that behaviour."
"What happened last time the behaviour was unfortunate," he added. "As much as we appreciate support and you have to acknowledge the importance of people supporting these events I can only plead that people would treat players with respect."
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Faul went to the extent of saying any fan who misbehaves against the visitors will be thrown out of the stadium. "Stupidity comes very natural to certain people," he said. "If someone misbehaves it’s very tough. We have a very strict policy in terms of fan behaviour and we will evacuate people but the damage will have been done."
Aussies will take on the Proteas in three T20Is and three ODIs, a series important part of both team's preparation towards the T20 World Cup down under in October this year.
(Inputs from The Herald)
