AUS vs SA: “We’ve All Moved On; I Don’t Think We’re As Abrasive As We’ve Been In The Past” – Pat Cummins Pledges No Repeat Of 2018

Australia National Cricket Team captain Pat Cummins has pledged to good behaviour during the Test series against the Proteas and said that they have moved on from the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal.

The South Africa tour of Australia 2022-23 consists of a three-match Test series. The first Test will be played from December 17 to 21 in Brisbane, the second Test will be held in Melbourne from December 26 to 30, and the final Test will be played in Sydney from January 4 to 8.

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Meanwhile, Pat Cummins has said that they are not as abrasive as they have been in the past. He added that the Aussies are pretty calm and chill both on and off the field.

“We’ve all moved on, done with it. I think you’ve seen over the last 12 months 11 different individuals going out there to play. We all play slightly differently, but seeing a lot of laughter.

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“I don’t think we’re as abrasive as we’ve been in the past. It’s working for us. How we are off the field is pretty similar to what we play on the field I think – calm, very chill, just enjoying it out there, really competitive. And we’ve done that really well over the last 12 months.

“Going into this series as well, just be ourselves. Don’t try and feel like we have to act in a certain way. We’re really strong on who we are as a team, how we want to go about it. The last 12 months have been a great example on that. We’re pretty firm on how we want to act and conduct ourselves. Whatever gets thrown at us won’t change that.”

Notably, in March 2018, during the third Test match of the series between Australia and South Africa at the Newlands in Cape Town, Australian player Cameron Bancroft was caught by television cameras trying to rough up one side of the ball with sandpaper.

Then-captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were found to be involved in the ball-tampering scandal. Smith and Warner were banned for 12 months each from international and domestic cricket while Cameron Bancroft was banned for 9 months. Also, both Smith and Warner were stripped of all leadership entitlements, with Smith receiving a two-year leadership ban and Warner receiving a lifetime leadership ban.

Hopefully, it’s played in good spirit – Dean Elgar

South Africa National Cricket Team captain Dean Elgar is hopeful of the series being played in good spirits. He also said that there could be “a few feisty encounters” during the series.

“Hopefully, it’s played in good spirit,” Elgar said before training at the Gabba on Friday. “There will be moments, no doubt, where there will be a few feisty encounters but hopefully it doesn’t reach the stage that we experienced in 2018.

“What’s happened in the past happened. There’s no grudges. We know they want to win, we want to win. There will always be a moment where egos and the heat of the moment gets to the guys but think it will be better controlled this time.

“I really want to play a bloody good Test series. Sure, they also want to play a Test series but hopefully not as good as us. If they’ve got added issues with regards to that then that’s their thing, but regards to my team we haven’t spoken about it once. It’s history for us.”

Also Read: AUS vs SA: Scott Boland Picked For Gabba Test, Pat Cummins Also Comes Back

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