Pat Cummins expects ‘little bit of hostility’ in South Africa amid Sandpaper Gate return

Australia captain Pat Cummins expects his team to face some hostility when they return to South Africa for their first Test tour of the country since the infamous Sandpaper Gate scandal in 2018.

Australia are scheduled to play three ODIs and three Tests in South Africa. While the Australians have continued to tour the country for white-ball cricket since the ball-tampering controversy, the upcoming Test series will be their first red-ball assignment there since the incident.

Cummins is currently not part of Australia's ODI squad in Zimbabwe but is set to join the team in South Africa for the one-day series before the Test campaign begins on October 9.

Cummins expects some hostility in South Africa

Speaking on the Keepin’ it Cricket podcast, Cummins acknowledged that the 2018 controversy could still be brought up by sections of the South African crowd. However, he does not expect the atmosphere to be significantly more intense than what Australia experiences 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 already experienced South African crowds during previous white-ball tours and was also among Australia's key performers during the 2018 Test series against the Proteas. The Australian captain believes his team has seen similar situations before and does not expect anything completely unfamiliar when the three-Test series gets underway.

“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 suggested that the reaction to the Sandpaper Gate scandal may not be as intense as some expect. He recalled that the controversy had received plenty of attention during previous encounters between the two teams but felt the response from South African supporters was relatively underwhelming.

“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 skipper believes the best way for his team to put the controversy behind them is to focus on the cricket once the series begins.

“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.