COVID takes crowd abuse out of Africa

Aussies will have it easier for this tour

AUSTRALIA appears to be heading back to South Africa, but the team will be spared from hostile crowds and the demons of revisiting the Cape Town dressing room.

Fans will be completely locked out for the three-Test series, meaning that as with most things in the COVID-19 era, the atmosphere for the first series back in South Africa since the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal will take on a much more sterile feel.

The hostility was palpable on that fateful tour three years ago, one of the ugliest series of Test cricket ever played, although the scab had already been removed in a sense because the Australians toured South Africa last year for limited-overs matches, with the experience uneventful.

Security was vigilant on kicking out any abusive spectators last February when the white-ball team returned, but this time around the notoriously intimidating South African supporters won’t even be allowed in the stadiums.

In order to guarantee the sanctity of the biosecurity bubble being set up for the series in a country that is overrun with the virus, the teams will not take any internal flights, with matches to be played between neighbouring grounds at Centurion and Johannesburg.

Centurion is likely to host two of the three Tests, but the order of matches slated for March 3, 12 and 21 is still unknown.

The Wanderers in Johannesburg – also known as ‘The Bullring’ – is one of world cricket’s most notorious venues for crowd abuse, but not even that will be a factor this time around.

In 2018 it was the relentlessness of the aggressive and at times personal abuse from the South African crowd that contributed to a dangerous siege mentality developing in the Australian dressing room.

That said, Australia in many ways vanquished its demons at the Newlands ground in Cape Town last February, when it smashed South Africa by 97 runs in a series-clinching T20 triumph, in which David Warner, pictured, starred with a game-high 57.

Steve Smith also smashed 30 off 15 balls, and Warner later led a significant rendition of the team song.

Any chance that the first Test series back in South Africa could be a difficult experience for the Australians – outside of the challenges they will face on the pitch – have been all but removed by COVID-19 restrictions.

The two teams will stay together for more than a month at the same resort. This isn’t necessarily unusual in cricket, and due to the IPL and bilateral limited-overs series, the key players from both sides are used to each other’s company.

This time, the big talking point is will the tour go ahead?

All indications are it will, but nothing has been finalised.

Cricket Australia’s biggest concern is ensuring they can get the team home after the series is finished.

The side will have a charter flight, but a range of hypothetical scenarios need to be worked through with Government officials, such as what if a player does contract the virus.

Meanwhile, Foxtel has celebrated a 28 per cent increase on ratings for this summer’s Big Bash League.

It’s a major boost to the pay TV network and Cricket Australia, who have at least broken even on the BBL in a year when attracting international players was severely affected by the pandemic.