Graeme Smith optimistic of good crowds during Australia’s tour of South Africa

South Africa’s Director of Cricket Graeme Smith expects to see crowds returning to the ground next year when Australia tours the country for a Test series for the first time since the 2018 infamous ball-tampering episode.

“We’re kind of looking at the Australian series, hopefully if all goes well with COVID, to have some crowds back in the stadiums. There’ll be way more excitement around that than anything else,” the former skipper told Sydney Morning Herald.

Even though CSA is yet to finalise the full schedule of the tour scheduled for February-March next year, Smith said the Newlands, where the ‘sandpapergate’ scandal took place, will definitely host a match.

Check behaviour

Allaying fears about poor crowd behaviour during the series, Smith said: “You can control it to the best of your ability. There’s not a place in the world where there hasn’t been a fan chirping or having a crack.

“That’s part of playing sport at the highest level in opposition countries. We’ll try our best to marshal it. I think South African fans will be grateful to have a quality team like Australia playing. It’s been one of those crazy periods where things we’ve gotten used to have been taken away from us.”