The Proteas captain also said South Africa’s tour to Down Under would give some youngsters the opportunity to fix their spot in the national team for next year’s one-day World Cup in England.
South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis. (Photo: AFP)
South African captain Faf du Plessis said on Friday the rainbow nation would not use the ball-tampering scandal, which plunged ‘the mighty’ Australian team into disgrace earlier this year, for sledging against the Kangaroo team in the upcoming limited overs series.
Former Australian skipper Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and young Test batsman Cameron Bancroft were all handed lengthy bans by Cricket Australia in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.
Speaking to Australian media in Perth, du Plessis said, “I don’t think us as a team would go there,” before adding, “It’s got nothing to do with the cricket – it’s in the past. In terms of what happened in Newlands, that’s in the past for us. For us, it’s business as usual.”
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The Proteas captain also said South Africa’s tour to Down Under would give some youngsters the opportunity to fix their spot in the national team for next year’s one-day World Cup in England.
Du Plessis also said playing in Australia would give youngsters a taste of playing in a hostile atmosphere. “I just go back to Adelaide when I walked out to bat in that night test match and there were 60,000 people booing,” he said while talking about a match played two years ago.
“That’s what makes home teams so challenging to tour – when you get to a place where the crowd is intimidating,” Du Plessis said, adding, “That’s something that youngsters will take a great deal of learning from. It tests your character. And if you get through it, you show yourself more than anyone else what you’re capable of.”
“I’m hoping that it’s there for us as a team just to get used to that difference, especially when you go to a World Cup,” Du Plessis concluded.
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