David Warner says the memories of Sandpapergate in Cape Town eight years ago still linger in the depths of his nightmares.
Fronting the broadcast coverage of Australia’s first red-ball match at Newlands since the infamous ball-tampering saga of 2018, Warner admitted how much it has affected him over the years.
“Those memories haunt me for a long, long time,” the former Aussie vice-captain told Fox Sports ahead of the first day’s play on Tuesday night (AEDT).
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Australia bowled South Africa out for 329 on Day 1 of the third and deciding Test in Cape Town after a dramatic morning that saw Steve Smith pull out of the side just minutes before skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and made the shock decision to bowl first.
That call looked like backfiring when the Proteas were 0-147 after 27 overs at lunch, but Mitchell Starc led a desperately needed fightback that saw the Aussies take 10-171 in the final two sessions.
Warner said regardless of Australia’s recent history at Newlands, this game was always going to be big.
“I think any Test match you represent your country in a big moment, series is one-all, no better place to do it,” he said.
Smith himself was also central to the ball-tampering saga in 2018, given he was captain at the time, and copped the same 12-month suspension that Warner received in the aftermath of it.
But his return to “the scene of the crime”, as Brendon Julian described it, was over before it began when he couldn’t shake a lingering neck injury from the second Test.
Australia’s players believed Smith would play right until the warm up, with a frantic 30-minute period ruling him out.
Smith had arrived at Newlands before the rest of his teammates on Tuesday in a bid to convince himself he would be right to face South Africa in the series decider.
The 37-year-old appeared to wear a sticky heat pack on the left side of his neck as he walked into the nets to face batting coach Michael Di Venuto, and received a number of balls.
But with approximately 75 minutes to go before the toss, Smith went to take guard and decided he could not get his head right and walked back down the pitch.
Smith being animated or unhappy in the nets is nothing new.
On Monday, as he fought to prove his fitness, he batted for 35 minutes, had a rest, and then grew frustrated as he miss-hit a few balls and packed up his kit and left.
But on Tuesday morning a conversation with coach Andrew McDonald and team medical staff ensued, before chief selector George Bailey ran out of the area.
“I didn’t know until I came out to warm up that he wasn’t playing,” Mitchell Starc, who took 6-72, said.
“I sort of knew something was wrong yesterday. I was trying to get my laundry at the hotel and couldn’t get in the (team) room.
“He’s obviously been battling that neck since last week (in the second Test). But I didn’t know he wasn’t playing until the warm up.”
It is understood medical staff had attempted to get Smith right, but ultimately he made the call that he wasn’t quite there.
Smith’s absence, combined with Pat Cummins’ decision to bowl first as South Africa reached 0-140 at lunch, made for one of Australia’s most dramatic mornings.
There were some reminders of 2018 on Tuesday, with the odd signs referencing sandpaper spotted in the Newlands stands and hills.
At age 37, Smith is also unlikely to come back for another Test, albeit with Australia’s away tour schedule unknown beyond next year.
He has endured a frustrating tour with three scores in the 20s, while being hit in the head in Durban and then suffering the neck issue last week.
With AAP
