David Warner bracing himself for hostile reception during Australia's tour of South Africa
David Warner has revealed that he’s ready for the hostile reception that he could potentially face during Australia’s tour of South Africa, two years after the Cape Town sandpaper scandal that had serious repercussions on his and Steve Smith’s immediate futures.
The limited-overs tour will see the Aussies take on the Proteas in three T20Is and two ODI matches, with a T20I game on 26th February in Newlands – the scene of Warner and Smith’s horror show.
Warner revealed that he’s bracing himself for the harsh reception he might receive from Proteas fans, stating that the same happened to him during last year’s Ashes and the World Cup, where English supporters relentlessly booed and jeered the southpaw,
“Obviously, it’s going to be very hostile. I copped it in England; I actually enjoyed that and played along with it,” Warner told Sydney radio 2GB.
“They’re a great bunch of people who come along and they’re great supporters of the game.
“Hopefully, we’re showed some respect when we go over to Africa and the things that happen in the past stay there.”
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South Africa’s recently-concluded Test series with England was marred by incidents of foul-mouthed tirades on the pitch and altercations, and both the teams’ aggressive natures resulted in the ICC dishing out fines to five players throughout the series.
Warner alluded to the above and said that the quick turnaround time in limited-overs cricket is different to that of Tests, and there won’t be much time to dwell on comments made by the opposition due to the fast-paced nature of the ODI and T20I formats.
“Obviously, they had a heated series against England as well, so it’s going to be testing when you get there,” Warner said.
“It’s not a Test match series and it’s a quick turnaround with the T20s and one-dayers. You don’t really have any time to worry about anything or listen to anything.”