Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Australian coach Darren Lehmann has labelled the Newlands crowd "disgraceful" after they reportedly hurled abuse the way of his players on Friday.
As has been the case throughout this series, there was more off-field controversy on day two of the third Test and it has ended with Cricket Australia lodging a formal complaint with Cricket South Africa (CSA).
READ: Morkel heroics not enough to bury Aussies
According to Lehmann, the players have been abused by the spectators throughout the Test series, with it boiling over into particularly unsavoury territory at Newlands.
One spectator was removed from the ground after he antagonised David Warner on the staircase leading up to the dressing rooms, while other spectators were removed for wearing t-shirts that are believed to have insulted Warner and his wife, Candice Warner.
What clearly started with the Durban bust-up between Warner and Quinton de Kock, where the Proteas wicketkeeper reportedly made a comment about Candice Warner, has spilled over.
"I think it's been disgraceful. You're talking about abuse of various players and their families ... it's not on at a cricket ground anywhere around the world, not just here," Lehmann said.
"You can have the banter, that's fine. But they've gone too far here. It's been poor."
Lehmann acknowledged the Warner incident, and while he did not repeat what the spectator had said, he made his feelings clear.
"It was personal, and it was poor, and he wasn't the only one," Lehmann said of the Warner incident.
"They've got to be better than that when they come to international arenas to watch a game of two quality sides playing against each other."
Lehmann added that he and his players had never experienced abuse of this kind anywhere else in the world.
"Not on this level. We accept it all around the world, but as soon as they cross the line and talk about players' families and the players ... it's just not on," he said.
"There have been various incidents throughout the series, but this one takes the cake."
CSA were unaware of a formal complaint at the time of writing, but Lehmann wanted action to be taken
"We'll see what happens ... hopefully something," he said.
