It was very much a false dawn. After the opening day of the first Test in Durban in 2018, where Australia finished on 225 for 5, it was described as “low key” and “an understated day.”
What followed was one of the more dramatic few weeks in Test history, of which the ball-tampering at Newlands was the extraordinary crescendo. There was significant controversy throughout. Less than a month after the series started, Steven Smith and David Warner had been handed year-long bans and Cameron Bancroft nine months, although the penalties were more for the covering up and reputational damage than the tampering itself.
Head coach Darren Lehmann, who was cleared of having knowledge of the plan by a hastily arranged investigation, announced before the final Test, at the Wanderers, that he would stand down. Two reviews were launched, one into the Australian team specifically and a broader one into the wider culture of the game in the countries, which resulted in numerous figures being ousted from their positions.
More than eight years on, Australia are playing Tests in South Africa for the first time since then. They had been due to tour in early 2021 but that series was cancelled due to Covid. The sting of this return is lessened somewhat by the fact they have been back twice for untroubled white-ball tours – one in 2020, which featured Smith and Warner playing at Newlands, and the team staying in the same Johannesburg hotel where bans were announced; then again in 2023.
But the nature of a Test series that pits the No. 1 side against the reigning world champions will mean recollections of what happened in 2018 won’t be far away in the build-up. With use of Cricinfo’s extensive coverage at the time, this is how it all unfolded.
The Durban stairwell After the relatively quiet opening day, it did not take long for the true nature of the 2018 contest to manifest itself. Before the series, Australia’s players had requested the stump microphones be turned down when the ball was dead, and they attempted to ensure that was done by audibly plugging rival sponsors. AB de Villiers played down what happened in the middle, though: “It was quite nice today,” he said. “They were very friendly compared to last time.”
The first real signs of the way things would head came on the fourth day, when Australia wildly celebrated the run-out of de Villiers. Warner yelled in the direction of de Villiers’ batting partner, Aiden Markram, and Nathan Lyon dropped the ball close to a prone de Villiers, for which he was later charged by the ICC.
Off the field, security had to step in as spectators shouted abuse at the Australians.
After play on the fourth day, which ended with Australia one wicket from victory, CCTV footage emerged of an altercation in the stairwell leading to the dressing rooms at Kingsmead, between Warner and Quinton de Kock. Amid the commotion, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis came out from the changing room wearing just a towel to try and calm the situation.
The following day, after Australia needed just 20 balls to wrap up the match, fallout continued around the stairwell incident. Each side argued that the other started it. Smith said de Kock’s words to Warner “crossed the line” – reportedly, they were said to have related to Warner’s wife, Candice, while the South African view was that Warner “most definitely” said something personal.
“I’m not going to say nothing will ever happen again, but as far as I’m concerned, we’ve just got to try to play within the spirit of the game,” Smith said.
While Warner was one misdemeanour away from a ban, so too were du Plessis and Kagiso Rabada due to previous sanctions. For Rabada, and the series, that would become very relevant on the opening day.
When Rabada dismissed Smith, on his way to a five-wicket haul, he made contact with the Australia captain and also gave him a send-off. He was subsequently handed a Level 2 charge by the ICC due to physical contact, which, if upheld, meant he was out of the series. Even before the outcome of the hearing into that charge had been concluded, Rabada further added to his demerit point count when he gave Warner a send-off in the second innings.
A short while later he was found guilty of his offence which meant, at that point, his series was over. Du Plessis questioned the outcome, saying Warner’s stairwell incident was more serious and argued it went against what match referee Jeff Crowe had said in a meeting after the heated first Test about not wanting to remove players from the series. “For me, if you look at those incidents, one is brushing of the shirt, the other is a lot more aggressive,” du Plessis said.
Two days later it was confirmed that Rabada would appeal his sanction, and a ten-day gap between the second and third Tests meant there was enough time for the situation to play out before the series resumed. After a six-hour hearing, Rabada was successful and his two-match ban was overturned with the charge downgraded to Level 1 and the subsequent reduction in demerit points putting him below the threshold for a suspension.
South Africa’s team manager Mohammad Moosajee termed it “great for the series and for Test cricket” but Smith questioned the outcome. “The ICC have set the standard, haven’t they? There was clearly contact out in the middle,” he said.
At the midway point of the series there was also a change in officials; Andy Pycroft replaced Crowe as match referee. On-field and TV umpires Kumar Dharmasena, Chris Gaffaney and S Ravi, the latter two still relatively inexperienced, were replaced by Nigel Llong, Richard Illingworth and Ian Gould.
In his autobiography Gould said he believed the English group could have got control of the series earlier. “Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I’m absolutely sure the English trio, including me, would have got on top of things from the off,” he wrote in Gunner: My Life In Cricket. “More things had happened in those first two Tests than you normally have to deal with in a five-match series.”
He also recounted a message passed on by the initial group of officials. “The umpiring team had their suspicions that Australia were working a little too aggressively on the condition of the ball, and they had an informal word with the host broadcaster, SuperSport, asking that if their camera crew saw anything that looked unusual, they should let the umpires know.”
The ability to produce reverse swing had been a notable feature of both attacks throughout the first two Tests. After the opening day of the series, Warner said: “We didn’t assess for reverse [swing] in the first day – not after 24 or 25 overs.” Mitchell Starc, meanwhile, was lethal with the ball moving in the first Test in Durban, as was Rabada in the second. The amount of bandaging on Warner’s hands in Port Elizabeth was highlighted.
The yellow square
The first day at Newlands was mostly about the cricket. Dean Elgar forged a magnificent century, and Pat Cummins produced a superb spell of reverse, instigating a South Africa collapse. However, that vibe didn’t last long.
At the start of Australia’s first innings, Warner cut loose against Rabada: three fours in a row at the end of the fourth over were followed by a six at the start of the next and another boundary. But after conceding 22 off five deliveries to Warner, Rabada sent the off stump cartwheeling. Rabada, still only one demerit point short of a ban, kept his celebration largely with his team-mates but Warner had a confrontation with a spectator as he left the field.
“There’s been various incidents throughout the Test series but this one has taken the cake,” Lehmann said. “I think it’s been disgraceful. You’re talking about abuse of various players and their families and personal abuse, it’s not on at a cricket ground anywhere around the world, not just here. It shouldn’t happen.”
In the middle, Lyon limited Australia’s deficit to 56, but South Africa built solidly in their second innings. At the end of the 43rd over, with the score 129 for 2, the umpires converged in the middle, as noted by Cricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary.
“The umpires have come together for a confab, which is always ominous news. They are having a chat with Cameron Bancroft, and there could be something afoot here… they wanted to know what was in his pocket… and he shows them a soft cloth, a sunglasses case by the looks of it … seems to have died down for now, whatever might have been brewing there… on we go. Will elaborate if needs be!”
The remainder of the day played out amid an increasing frenzy of questions and speculation, but the on-field umpires, Llong and Illingworth, had not felt the need to change the ball and no five-run penalty had been imposed.
After a significant delay, Bancroft and Smith eventually fronted up to the media, by which time Bancroft had already been charged by the ICC for attempting to change the condition of the ball. At that point, the players did not admit to it being sandpaper they had used, though they did acknowledge the ball-tampering. “We’ve seen the ball reversing through this series and this ball didn’t seem like it was going to go,” Smith said. “It’s such poor actions.”
Smith added that he intended to continue as captain. “I still think I am the right person for the job.”
He made reference to the “leadership group” knowing about the plan, which would become a significant phrase in the days, months and even years to come, given that it included Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. The subsequent investigation found the bowlers knew nothing of it, although that did not satisfy many. Three years later in 2021, they issued a joint statement, again denying any knowledge of the plan after Bancroft gave an interview to the Guardian where he said it was “self-explanatory” the bowlers would have known about what was going on.
Back in 2018, it was night in Australia when news of the ball-tampering came to light. As the country woke up, the fallout gathered pace, quickly reaching the top of the government.
“We all woke up this morning shocked and bitterly disappointed by the news from South Africa,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. “It seemed completely beyond belief that the Australian cricket team had been involved in cheating.”
CA had already launched an investigation, led by head of integrity, Iain Roy, and head of performance, Pat Howard, which came to some rapid conclusions and focused narrowly only on events at Newlands that day. CEO James Sutherland, who initially did not go to South Africa when the news broke, was soon on a flight as well. Corporate partners quickly started withdrawing from deals.
Three days later the bans were handed out to Smith, Warner and Bancroft, and the trio left South Africa from Johannesburg, where the tour had relocated for the final Test, with each giving emotional press conferences on his return to Australia. Initially there was talk that Smith and Warner would challenge their sanctions, but within a week they had been accepted.
In a recent interview with Code Sports, Smith said he felt abandoned at that point. “I felt like I was kind of thrown to the wolves through the airport,” he said. “I didn’t have any support there at all.”
Unsurprisingly South Africa won comfortably at the Wanderers to take the series 3-1. Paine would become the full-time Test captain, a role he held until standing down in the middle of a controversy of his own in late 2021, and Justin Langer came in as head coach until 2022. Significant fallout from the ball-tampering affair would continue through 2018, with the publication of the culture review later that year.
Smith and Warner returned to international cricket at the 2019 ODI World Cup, while as fate and selection would have it, Bancroft was back with the team for the start of the Ashes that followed, in which Smith racked up 774 runs. Warner’s sanction included a lifetime ban from leadership, although that was rescinded in 2024, which allowed him to captain Sydney Thunder. There has always been a lingering thought that Warner had more to say about the events of 2018, but to date he hasn’t.
And so to 2026
The scheduling of this series means the three Tests will follow the same order as in 2018. As evidence of their longevity, there is a good chance Australia will next week in Durban field the same front-line attack that featured in the first three Tests eight years ago: Starc, Hazlewood, current captain Cummins, and Lyon.
Smith also returns as still among the best batters in the world, and, having captained Australia ten times since his leadership ban ended, will stand in for Cummins should injury strike. Matt Renshaw, who was one of those quickly flown to South Africa for the final Test in 2018, is set to open the batting.
For South Africa, there are potentially five survivors, including current captain Temba Bavuma, although Rabada, who claimed nine wickets in last year’s WTC final at Lord’s, is doubtful due to injury.
“I haven’t seen a series go like that since that one,” Hazlewood said last month. “It was just so over the top, almost from ball one. I don’t know whether it was two teams at boiling point who had been on the road for a long time and were mentally drained and fatigued. Everything was really over the top. I can’t see any issues like that [happening] again.”