South Africa spinner Simon Harmer expects none of the animosity of Australia's last Test tour to South Africa to resurface when the two sides meet in a three-match series beginning at Kingsmead on Friday — Australia's first Test series in the country since the 2018 "Sandpapergate" scandal.
A series eight years in the making
Australia have not played a full Test tour of South Africa since 2018, when the tourists used sandpaper to illegally alter the condition of the ball in a bid to gain more swing. The scandal led to bans for captain Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft, and followed a series of ugly confrontations, including off-field fighting and on-field jostling between the teams.
The Tests in Durban, Gqeberha, and Cape Town will pit the two most recent World Test Championship winners against each other. The series culminates at Newlands in Cape Town — the venue where the 2018 scandal unfolded.
'T20 has softened that a little bit'
Harmer believes the growth of Twenty20 franchise cricket, where international rivals regularly become teammates, has taken the sting out of such contests. "I expect Australia to come out firing and being competitive, but I think the nature of T20 cricket is such that you're playing with a lot of players, a lot of the time," he told a press conference on Wednesday.
"Gone are the days where you had these huge rivalries, where you would play against one another every 18 to 24 months, and it created that sort of argy bargy on the field," he added. "I think T20 has softened that a little bit but I don't expect Australia to be soft by any stretch of the imagination."
Expect a fight
The 37-year-old Harmer, expected to be one of two spinners South Africa use in the first Test, warned the series would still be fiercely contested. "They fight to the death; their lower order always seems to score a lot of runs with a never-say-die attitude," he said. "I think it is quite a similar trait to South Africans. We're resilient, and we probably do our best when our backs are up against the wall."
He pointed to last year's World Test Championship final at Lord's, where South Africa beat Australia by five wickets. "I think it was almost a foregone conclusion that Australia were going to win that game, but our team found a way to get through it and to get the win."
Sources:
Reuters: T20 ties have softened on-field rivalries, says Harmer
Rediff: Australia return to SA years after Sandpapergate row
A series eight years in the making
Australia have not played a full Test tour of South Africa since 2018, when the tourists used sandpaper to illegally alter the condition of the ball in a bid to gain more swing. The scandal led to bans for captain Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft, and followed a series of ugly confrontations, including off-field fighting and on-field jostling between the teams.
The Tests in Durban, Gqeberha, and Cape Town will pit the two most recent World Test Championship winners against each other. The series culminates at Newlands in Cape Town — the venue where the 2018 scandal unfolded.
'T20 has softened that a little bit'
Harmer believes the growth of Twenty20 franchise cricket, where international rivals regularly become teammates, has taken the sting out of such contests. "I expect Australia to come out firing and being competitive, but I think the nature of T20 cricket is such that you're playing with a lot of players, a lot of the time," he told a press conference on Wednesday.
"Gone are the days where you had these huge rivalries, where you would play against one another every 18 to 24 months, and it created that sort of argy bargy on the field," he added. "I think T20 has softened that a little bit but I don't expect Australia to be soft by any stretch of the imagination."
Expect a fight
The 37-year-old Harmer, expected to be one of two spinners South Africa use in the first Test, warned the series would still be fiercely contested. "They fight to the death; their lower order always seems to score a lot of runs with a never-say-die attitude," he said. "I think it is quite a similar trait to South Africans. We're resilient, and we probably do our best when our backs are up against the wall."
He pointed to last year's World Test Championship final at Lord's, where South Africa beat Australia by five wickets. "I think it was almost a foregone conclusion that Australia were going to win that game, but our team found a way to get through it and to get the win."
Sources:
Reuters: T20 ties have softened on-field rivalries, says Harmer
Rediff: Australia return to SA years after Sandpapergate row
