Cameron Bancroft expects Australia will use Vernon Philander's "hacked" tweet blaming Steven Smith for body contact with Kagiso Rabada as gamesmanship on the field in the third Test at Newlands, and doubts that a fractious series will get any quieter should Rabada's two-match ban be upheld at an ICC appeal hearing.
Philander explained he had been hacked the morning after his account featured a tweet suggesting Smith was "trying football skills to get a penalty" and was "just as guilty" as Rabada. However, Rabada himself has since stated that he takes responsibility for the confrontation, which followed his dismissal of Smith on day one of the Port Elizabeth Test.
Asked whether the tweet would be raised on the field, Bancroft offered a frank perspective on the Australians' on-field attitude when trying to get the game running their way. "If our banter is anything like it has gone this series I'm sure it will be brought up at some stage to get under someone's nerves," Bancroft said. "That's boys being boys playing cricket. Who can hurt someone's feelings the most. It seems to be a bit that way.
"We saw the tweet. It was obviously quite popular there for a little while. I can't really comment. I don't know if he wrote it or if his account was hacked or not. I can't really say for him. That's his opinion, isn't it, and he's got to deal with the consequences of that now, not us."
The Australians faced some spicy bowling from Duanne Olivier in their only warm-up match of the tour, and Bancroft pointed to his inclusion alongside Chris Morris to state that he expected South Africa to remain chirpy in the middle also, regardless of whether Rabada turned out to be available. "All their players play pretty tough, hard cricket," Bancroft said. "[Rabada's] been at the front of a lot of attention recently but he's got a lot of people behind him in the team that play really tough, hard cricket as well.
"As we saw with Olivier in the tour game, they've got guys who can play really aggressive cricket. The way South Africa play and the way we play it's pretty feisty and we certainly push the boundaries a lot, but I think that's what makes it such a great game for spectators and to be a part of. We're not really worried about that at all, and we know regardless of if he plays or not they'll come really hard at us."
"I think that's what makes them a very difficult attack to face. They're very dynamic, a bit like the bowlers we have as well."
Assessing the South African attack, Bancroft said that the possible recall of Morne Morkel would pose a very different challenge to Rabada. "They are all very different bowlers. Vernon Philander doesn't bowl fast but when the ball is reverse-swinging he's still difficult to play. I think all of their bowlers are unique in different ways," he said.
"Rabada is very clever when the ball is reverse-swinging, he does have good pace. Morne is the same, probably doesn't swing the ball as much when it is reversing - normally. But he gets a lot of bounce and that's his strength. Philander is a completely different bowler again. I think that's what makes them a very difficult attack to face. They're very dynamic, a bit like the bowlers we have as well. That's a great challenge and a great test, and whoever comes in to replace Rabada, if he isn't playing, they'll be exactly the same. So we've got to be ready for that."
As for his own development as an opener, Bancroft recalled his first Sheffield Shield season in 2013-14, when he was persisted with by Western Australia despite an extended run of outs in the second half of the year. Duly aided by his experiences, Bancroft went on to a prolific summer in 2014-15, placing him firmly in the sights of the national selectors, where he has stayed more or less ever since.
"I don't think I've ever made it or felt completely comfortable. It's a ruthless game and a game where you're going to fail and make a lot of mistakes. That's just a matter of fact," Bancroft said. "I know my first season in Shield cricket I had an absolute stinker - my second half of the year was horrific basically. I undid a lot of hard work that I did at the start of the year. But that was part of my journey and the next season I scored 900 runs in Shield cricket.
"Because I'd failed and I'd made mistakes and learned the hard way with some things, that made me into a better player. At this level it's going to be no different, in life it's going to be no different. We all want everything straight away at the drop of a hat, but sometimes that's not the way it is for you."
One sign of Bancroft's value was shown in his catch to dismiss AB de Villiers off Nathan Lyon at short leg late in the second Test, the first time the South African master had been dismissed by an Australian bowler for the series, and the result of some close catching work with the team's fielding coach Brad Haddin.
"The funny thing about that AB catch was Brad Haddin and I were talking a bit and he was talking about me following the batter when he comes down the track," Bancroft said. "It's something I've done a fair bit in the past. I don't know if it's these wickets but nicks tend to balloon a bit more, whereas in Australia sometimes they actually go finer.
"During the summer I stopped doing that. At training during the week I practiced for about half an hour, like a side step coming down the wicket, and it was just bizarre that actually happened. The chances of that happening are obviously very small. I was pretty excited that I practiced it and it came off in a game."