South African ODI skipper AB de Villiers slams Australia's behaviour

AB de Villiers

Ahead of the Australia vs South Africa ODI game, Proteas ODI captain AB de Villiers has said that a bit of ill-feeling exists between the two sides, as Australian players had made quite a few personal remarks during the Test series in South Africa earlier this year. When informed that Australian captain Michael Clarke had personally apologized for some of his side’s behaviour in the aftermath of the Test series, de Villiers quipped: "I didn't know about that, but apology accepted."

The world’s number 1 ODI batsman also added that while he did not get affected by the sledging of the Australians, the same cannot be said of some of his team-mates who were offended at some of the vicious remarks directed towards them. Such behaviour resulted in only one South African player heading into the Australian dressing room to have a beer with the opposition, as is the custom, at the end of the series.

Australians got personal

"There was lots of personal stuff and certain guys take it in a different way," the 30-year-old said.

"I see that it's part of the game but they can't expect us to be mates with them off the field then, if they get very personal."

The Australians are notorious for sledging opposition teams, and while that is acknowledged as being part of the game, what riled the South Africans was the incessant abuse by the Australian fielders while the Proteas were batting. The situation came to a head when Vernon Philander was controversially declared not out by the umpires during the climax of the 3rd and series-deciding Test in Cape Town, resulting in a few of the Australian players - most notably Clarke himself - confronting Dale Steyn, Philander’s batting partner, head-on.

Warner has his own regrets

Australian opener David Warner, who was probably to blame for most of the bad blood between the two teams as a result of accusing de Villiers of ball tampering after the 2nd Test in Port Elizabeth, has said that he regrets making unfounded allegations against de Villiers but insists that sledging is a part and parcel of the game of cricket.

"Obviously with myself coming out and saying the comment about AB de Villiers probably wasn't the smartest thing, and I regret saying that," Warner, who has been given a break from the ongoing tri-series, said on the Back Page on Fox Sports on Tuesday night.

"We set a standard where we want to go out there and play aggressive and hard cricket and not cross the line.

"There are some times you do nudge that line a fair bit and the odd occasion you might step over that, but you do have to realize that we're out there to win.

"We do like to be aggressive and sledging is a form of the game when we're out there."