David Warner's wife, Candice, who witnessed the second Test between Australia and West Indies from the stands, faced “vile abuse” by a section of fans at the Adelaide Oval.

Commenting on the awful crowd behaviour, Candice said she feels cricket to be an “unsafe place” for her and her family.

She claimed that the incident took place in the first session of the pink-ball Test on Saturday (December 10), when her children wanted to see their father, who was featuring in the match.

“Saturday afternoon at Adelaide Oval, just before the lunch break, the girls wanted to see their dad. So we went from one area of Adelaide Oval to the other. It was probably about 200m.

“In that time, I had two of my three daughters, my eight-year-old and my three-year-old, we were walking hand-in-hand, and as we’re walking past a huge group of people, it was a group of five or six men who just started throwing vile abuse at me,” Candice Warner said while speaking on at Triple M’s Summer Breakfast along with Harley Breen and Tom Tilley.

“I continued to walk and then I just stopped and I looked around at this group of men and it was one guy in particular. And they were laughing and they were pointing. And they thought what they did was okay.

“So I decided to confront them. I didn’t have to, but with my girls in my hands, I thought it was really important to confront them because for us, my actions need to mirror the messages I give to my kids,” she added.

“So I confronted them and like any group of men who have been drinking, they were weak, they were gutless, they didn’t own up to what they did and the man who was actual yelling this abuse was hiding behind his friend,” she continued.

When asked what was her response to the fans, Candice said: “I said ‘Do you feel good about yourself, trying to intimidate me, to belittle me, embarrass me in front of my kids? You clearly don’t have kids yourself, it’s not okay. It’s not okay to bully someone, it’s not okay to make fun of other people’.”

“The thing that disappointed me was, one, the fact they thought it was funny, two, that they couldn’t own up to their mistake, but the fact that in a packed stadium, when they could see a mother with two kids clearly in distress, my girls were upset, not one single person came to my assistance. Not one.

“The sad thing is that in a time when we’re trying to encourage more women, more girls to participate in sport, to attend sport, that I’m now starting to feel like it’s not safe for me and my kids to attend sport and support their father.”

The incident happened in the wake of David Warner’s decision to withdraw appeal against lifetime leadership ban over ball-tampering scandal.

In an Instagram post, Warner on Wednesday (December 7) said the review panel wants to hold a public trial before taking a final call and hence he decided to withdraw the application. The veteran opener also added that he is not prepared to let his family be the “washing machine for cricket’s dirty laundry”.