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Argy Bargy At Adelaide Airport As South Africa Tour Gets Nasty

They're named after a flower, but the Proteas are no shrinking violets.
Nathan Stitt on Twitter

Things have turned extremely ugly as the South Africa Proteas cricket team landed in Adelaide ahead of the third Test against Australia, which starts Thursday.

Australian TV reporter Will Crouch of Channel Nine Adelaide was shoved away at least twice by a South African party member, while Crouch was trying to interview South African skipper Faf du Plessis.

It's being reported that the man involved was Zunaid Wadee, the team security chief. Two brief videos captured by ABC news journalist Nathan Stitt, published on Twitter, appear to show Wadee shoving Crouch as many as three times.

Crouch appears to push out his shoulder to protect himself after the first shove, then earns another for his trouble.

In a second video posted on Twitter, Crouch is then pushed towards glass sliding doors leading out of the airport.

And here's another view.

Tensions have been running hot in the South African team ever since late last week, when du Plessis was charged with ball tampering by international cricket's governing body, the ICC. Du Plessis is said to have imparted spit on the ball while chewing a mint, a tactic which could make the ball swing more than usual, making it more difficult for batsmen to face. Such tactics violate Law 42.3 of the official cricket laws, which states that a fielder may polish a ball, "provided that no artificial substance is used".

South Africa has been hostile to the Australian media ever since the charges were laid, even though no Australian cricketer, media representative or official made a formal complaint to the ICC.

Senior South African batsman Hashim Amla was defiant, as he was when fronting the world's weirdest press conference last Friday.

Wadee has allegedly reacted aggressively in defence of his captain before, as this South African article shows.

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