Cricket: A 'fool' and a 'bully' - former South African cricketers on Aussie vice-captain David Warner

David Warner. Photo / Getty

Former South Africa spinner Paul Harris has labelled David Warner a bully, suggesting Australia's vice-captain has dished out his fair share of personal abuse.

And former South African captain Graeme Smith told cricket.com.au "We've got used to Davey over the years. I think the less interest you take in him the better. He can be a bit of a fool at times. It's best just to let him be."

Warner's incredible off-field confrontation with Quinton de Kock has overshadowed Australia's series-opening victory in Durban, with the ill feeling set to continue when the second Test starts in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

Footage emerged on Monday of an enraged Warner being restrained by teammates at tea on day four of the first Test. Warner was furious about personal remarks made by de Kock, believed to be about Warner's wife, the triathlete Candice Falzon.

The ICC is now said to be examining the incident, which it has not yet commented on but they have charged Nathan Lyon for dropping the ball on Ab de Villiers after he was run out on Sunday.

After running him out, Lyon dropped the ball on a prone De Villiers, hitting him on the chest. He has apologised for the incident.

A he said/she said narrative has since broken out over the change-room spat, with captains Faf du Plessis and Steve Smith disagreeing over whether de Kock was subject to any personal sledging.

Chat, banter, sledging has always been apart of any series between SA & Oz. Both sides always give it out. Respect is the key & I hope nothing personal was said to any player towards anyone from either side. Have a beer together afterwards & get on with it - stop the whinging !

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) March 5, 2018

"Warner is the type of guy where if things are going well for Australia he's got a big mouth, but when they're losing he doesn't say too much," Harris told AAP.

"When he says something and someone comes back at him - then he gets upset. That's pretty much all the characteristics of a bully.

"There's always a common denominator in these sort of things and it seems to be Warner.

"Speaking to a few of the players, they really don't give a s**t about what he says. They're just like, well he's quite personal so we're going to come back at him and see how he takes it.

Hey Biff, you’re much closer to the action than me so thanks for heads up. Whatever the case, going personal is rubbish from anyone. Get on with the cricket. More importantly mate, how are the #biffstix going? 🔥👍 @GraemeSmith49 https://t.co/k23HPoUw45

— Adam Gilchrist (@gilly381) March 5, 2018

"I know Quinton de Kock quite well and he won't take things lying down. If someone's having a crack at him, he'll have a go back."

Harris, who featured in 37 Tests and was part of the first post-apartheid South African squad to win a Test series in Australia, never played against Warner.

But he noted former teammates are well aware of the aggressive opener's conduct.

"I know, speaking to a couple of the guys, that he does tend to get quite personal with the way he abuses players," Harris said.

"I've heard from South African players that he can sometimes be quite personal ... if you're going to do that you must be able to take it back, and it doesn't look like he takes it back to well.

"The South Africans haven't moaned about it at all during the Test."

Harris was full of praise for the way Australia played at Kingsmead, saying Mitchell Starc's reverse-swing masterclass should be in the headlines rather than Warner's rampage.

"It's a bit of a dampener on the fact they played such good cricket," he said.

Falzon was in the news back in 2007 when she was caught on film having a tryst in a men's toilet cubicle at Sydney's Clovelly Hotel with All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams. At the time, Williams was playing for NRL team the Bulldogs and Falzon was the girlfriend of Western Force halfback Matt Henjak.

- AAP