CSA boss asks South African fans to respect Smith and Warner

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has warned the fans in the country that they will be evacuated from the stadium if they do anything embarrassing during the upcoming T20I and ODI series between South Africa and Australia.

David Warner and Steve Smith are touring South Africa for the first time since the infamous ball-tampering scandal of 2018, and it is believed that they might have to cope with some verbal volleys from the South African crowd.

David Warner and Steve Smith

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However, the cricket board of South Africa is trying its best to make sure the situation doesn’t go out of hand. The CSA chief executive Jacques Faul has urged the spectators who turn up to watch the games to not get disrespectful towards Smith and Warner, both of whom have been scoring massively for the Australian team since their comeback.

“I would plead with South African fans to respect our opponents and don’t go overboard with these things. We have a very strict policy in terms of fans behavior and we will evacuate people, but the damage will have been done,” Faul has been quoted as saying.

David Warner

Warner has even admitted that he is expecting the atmosphere to be “hostile”, but the opener has also stressed that he is not going to be bothered by it. He faced a lot of trolling from the crowd during the ODI World Cup in England as well, but he took it on the chin and let his bat do the talking.

Warner ended up as one of the highest run-getters in the World Cup, and hasn't looked back since. He along with Smith would be hoping to put in a similarly strong performance in South Africa so that the memories of their infamous scandal can be erased.