(UTV|COLOMBO) – An Australia team still feeling reverberations from the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal will face their demons against South Africa in a one-day series starting in Perth on Sunday.
The teams meet for their first international clash since the ill-tempered test series wrapped up in Johannesburg in April with Australia’s reputation in tatters and three of their players sent home in disgrace.
While seven months have passed, Australian cricket has struggled to move on from the Newlands nightmare, and the release of a culture review this week re-opened the wounds.
The Longstaff report blamed Cricket Australia in part for the events in South Africa, and fierce reaction to its contents ultimately led to chairman David Peever resigning on Thursday.
As the board scrambles to rebuild its credibility, Aaron Finch’s Australia will hope to restore some faith in the national team with wins against the Proteas in the three-match series.
The on-field behaviour of both teams will be closely scrutinised given the overt hostility that blighted the test series, which South Africa won comfortably 3-1.
The tour was plagued by multiple incidents of misconduct and the bad blood spilled over into a stairwell altercation between David Warner and Quinton de Kock on the fourth day of the first test in Durban.
