FILE - Cameron Bancroft and Steve Smith front up to the media after the Sandpapergate controversy blew up at Newlands in 2018.
When Australia take the field against the Proteas at Kingsmead on October 9, it will be the first time their Test side has set foot in South Africa since the drama-filled 2017-18 tour that ended with three players sent home in disgrace.
Eight years on from Sandpapergate, only six members of the touring squad who were part of the darkest period in Australian cricket history will be back for the upcoming series.
The Proteas won that 2018 series 3-1: Australia took the first Test in Durban by 118 runs, before the home side hit back at St George's Park, then at Newlands in Cape Town, before completing a rout in Johannesburg.
It was during the third Test, with picturesque Table Mountain in the background, that the series — and a chunk of Australian cricket's reputation — came apart. Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera roughening the ball with sandpaper on the third day; captain Steve Smith admitted he'd known of the plan, and vice-captain David Warner was found to have devised it.
