Published 13:42 IST, February 25th 2020
David Warner's ball tampering act fuelled by SA's vile sledging about wife Candice: Report
David Warner had admitted that he was the main instigator in the infamous events of Cape Town in 2018 which saw Steve Smith, Warner, and Bancroft banned.
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The SA vs Aus Test match at Newlands in Cape Town had the cricket world in shock in 2018 when Australian opening batsman Cameron Bancroft was caught using sandpaper to rough up the ball during the third Test of the 4-match series. After the incident, Bancroft was banned for nine months whereas vice-captain David Warner and captain Steve Smith were banned for a year. The reason behind the actions is now being revealed in a fresh news report.
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As the whole Cape Town saga came to the forefront, vice-captain David Warner had taken responsibility for instigating a young Cameron Bancroft to partake in the ball-tampering incident. According to The Daily Mail, it is now being reported that David Warner's actions stemmed from the constant sledging that the hostile Proteas squad directed towards him and his wife. The sledging, which was often of sexual nature, is reported to be worse than what keeper Quinton de Kock had allegedly said to David Warner, earlier in that series.
The sledging infuriated Warner enough to make him conspire and instruct an impressionable Cameron Bancroft to use hidden sandpaper to tamper the match ball. David Warner's wife Candice Warner was a sportsperson previously but was said to have been embarrassed in the past after getting caught having sexual intercourse with former South African rugby player Sonny Bill Williams in a pub toilet back in 2007.
David Warner wife: Candice not accompanying husband for South Africa vs Australia T20 series
The efforts to manipulate the ball were made by David Warner to beat the South Africans at 'any cost'. However, the plan was quick to backfire as Bancroft was caught by the broadcast cameras, which were soon to point out the unethical behaviour. Smith and Warner made their Test comebacks in the Ashes where Smith scored more than 700 runs to help Australia retain the urn. Warner got going against Pakistan and New Zealand and ended up getting himself the Allan Border medal at the recent Australian Cricket Awards. It is also being reported that David Warner's wife, Candice Warner, is not travelling to South Africa in this Australian tour of South Africa which is Australia's first visit to the country since the fateful incidents of 2018.
South Africa will face Australia in the third South Africa vs Australia T20 International on February 26.
13:42 IST, February 25th 2020