Faf du Plessis adds in to the war of words between skippers

What was initially confined to on-field banter in the First Test between South Africa and Australia in Durban, then escalated to become a war of words between David Warner and Quinton de Kock. A dramatic CCTV footage emerged on Monday of the Australian vice-captain being restrained by teammates in an off-field confrontation with the South African keeper in the player’s tunnel during tea.

While the on-field sledging was played down by both sides initially, South Africa now claim that the constant sledging on field elicited a response from them. Australia, including skipper Steve Smith, on the other hand, continue to say that Warner’s reaction was a reaction to a disparaging personal comment, allegedly about his wife, former Ironwoman Candice.

South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis, whose contribution to the tea commotion was to emerge from the rooms and tell Warner to move on, argued on Monday “there was a lot of personal stuff being said” by “both parties”. Du Plessis, who admitted he’d never seen anything like the incident in his career, called on umpires to take better control during games.

Boundaries need to be there in case of seldging

“If you chirp each other it’s always on the field. There need to be boundaries,” he said. “Umpires play a big role in that, to make sure that you don’t let it get to that stage.” Du Plessis had no issues with the tourists’ sledging in the Test. “If I don’t hear that then I’m disappointed,” he said, as reported by News.com.au. “I’m certainly not sitting here complaining about it. It’s the way we play our cricket against them. I don’t decide where that line is.”

Since this news has dominated the headlines more than the fiery test itself, it is bound to create problems for players and between the sides. However, Faf clarifies that de Kock is alright.“Quinny’s fine … when you look at him now, it’s like nothing happened.”

The matter is now in the hands of match referee Jeff Crowe and is being investigated by ICC and Cricket Australia.