Cummins Expects Hostile Reception in South Africa Amid Sandpaper Gate Return

Australian skipper Pat Cummins has warned that his team will likely encounter a hostile reception when they return to South Africa for their first Test series in the country since the 2018 Sandpaper Gate scandal.

The Aussies are set to face three ODIs and three Tests in South Africa. While white-ball tours have continued since the ball-tampering controversy, this upcoming red-ball series marks their first Test assignment in the nation since the incident.

Although Cummins is currently missing from Australia’s ODI squad in Zimbabwe, he is expected to join the team in South Africa for the one-day fixtures before the Test campaign kicks off on October 9.

Cummins expects some hostility in South Africa

Appearing on the Keepin’ it Cricket podcast, Cummins acknowledged that the 2018 controversy might still provoke sections of the South African crowd. Nevertheless, he does not anticipate the atmosphere being significantly more intense than what Australia faces during Ashes series.

“There might be a little bit of hostility. (But) it can’t be louder than an Ashes series … Birmingham, the Hollies Stand at Edgbaston, that gets pretty rowdy,” Cummins admitted.

Cummins has previous experience with South African crowds from past white-ball tours and was a key performer during the 2018 Test series against the Proteas. The captain believes his team has encountered similar situations before and does not anticipate anything entirely new when the three-Test series begins.

“As long as I’ve been to South Africa, there are some parts of the crowd that get stuck in, but I reckon we’ve seen it all before. And most importantly, I’m captain, so I’m in the middle; I’m not near the fence!,” he added.

‘Everyone moves on’, says Australian captain

Cummins also indicated that the response to the Sandpaper Gate scandal might not be as severe as anticipated. He recalled that the controversy generated significant attention during previous encounters, yet felt the reaction from South African supporters was relatively muted.

“It (Sandpapergate) was kind of really spoken up (in past series), and it was almost a bit underwhelming,” Cummins said about the reaction from Proteas fans.

The Australian captain believes the best approach for his team to move past the controversy is to concentrate on the cricket once the series starts.

“Everyone moves on. The good thing is, three Tests, you get stuck into the cricket, and everyone just worries about the cricket pretty quickly.”

“I’m sure there’ll be some rowdy people in the crowd, and some articles or some media bring up stuff. But our group’s moved on,” he added.

Australia still has six players in their current setup who were part of the squad that lost the 2018 Test series 1-3 against South Africa. The tour remains one of the darkest chapters in Australian cricket, with the ball-tampering scandal resulting in year-long bans for Steve Smith and David Warner, while Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months.

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