As Australia opener David Warner is gearing up to play his first cricket match on South African soil since the infamous ball-tampering scandal, he is not too concerned about the taunts but urged the Proteas fans to show some respect.
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Warner was suspended by Cricket Australia (CA) for a period of 12 months after he was found to be the instigator behind the ‘Sandpaper gate’ act that took place during the Cape Town Test in March 2018.
The ball-tampering fiasco wasn’t the only controversy that Warner was involved in during that embarrassing South African tour. In the first Test at Kingsmead, the southpaw had a fierce verbal battle with opposition wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock. As a result, he was charged for breaching Level 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct and was fined 75 percent of his match fee (approximately $13,500) in addition to three demerit points.
In the aftermath of the spat, the Proteas crowd got stuck into Warner and sported Sonny Bill Williams masks to taunt his wife during the second Test at St George's Park. It was a reference to the fact that Warner’s wife had previously been involved in a relationship with the New Zealand rugby player.
“I’m not concerned about it, but at the end of the day you have to have some form of respect as well,” Warner told reporters on the eve of the first T20I in Johannesburg.
“It was poor, but for me it is about moving forward. If people want to go to the game and carry on like that, then it is on themselves, they have to look at themselves in the mirror.
“At the end of the day they are representing their country as spectators watching a game of cricket. I am sure they don’t want teams leaving here and criticising the way their fans are acting.
“I know what is going to get thrown at me, I always do wherever I am playing in the world. It is nothing I haven’t heard before.”
The left-hander said he is easily able to switch off while playing, especially with the quick nature of T20.
“If you are batting you are just ingrained in what is ahead of you and if I am fielding it is about watching the captain and making sure I am staying focused, and I always do,” he said.
Warner echoed the sentiments of Steve Smith that Australia’s reception in South Africa, so far, has been very warm.
“Every single person we have come across that has asked for a photo, or that we have come in contact with, have nothing but great words to say in welcoming us to the country,” he said.
(Inputs from Reuters)
