Australia's David Warner leaves the field after losing his wicket on the third day. Photo / AP
Australia's David Warner leaves the field after losing his wicket on the third day. Photo / AP
David Warner knew all eyes were on his left hand in Port Elizabeth, so he used the occasion to send a simple message.
Warner wrote the names of wife Candice plus children Ivy and Indi on his heavily-strapped hand on day three of the second Test between Australia and South Africa.
Warner's hand became the latest point of discussion in debate over reverse-swing - and methods used to create it by scuffing one side of the ball - on day two at St George's Park.
The host broadcaster repeatedly showed footage of Australia's vice-captain shining the ball.
No allegations or accusations were directly made but the inference of ball-tampering was enough to send Twitter into meltdown.
Both camps shot down reports of South Africa's batsmen complaining about Warner's hand, while it's understood match referee Jeff Crowe told the tourists that Warner's strapping isn't a problem.
Warner had donned the same bandages on day three of the second Test.
Australia's David Warner applies a bandage to his injured hand on the third day of the second cricket test. Photo / AP
He knew broadcasters would again take a great deal of interest in his left hand, so the 31-year-old used it as a platform to detail his love of family. Warner credits Candice for turning his life around.
Cricket Australia effectively told the aggressive opener he was on his final chance in 2013 after a bar-room scuffle with Joe Root. He started a relationship with Candice soon after.
The pair were a constant presence in the headlines last week, with Quinton de Kock's staircase sledge followed by the Sonny Bill Williams mask saga that prompted Cricket South Africa to issue an apology.
Warner wears the strapping tape because he's broken his left thumb twice and left index finger once, while there is also a hot spot on the hand resulting from a knock suffered during last month's Twenty20 tri-series.
"Their allegations are a little bit frivolous. I think they're obviously looking for something to pin on him; he's one step away from suspension as we've heard over the last week," former Australian fast bowler Ryan Harris said on the Nine Network.
"The time I played with Davey he had all that strapping on his fingers.
"Unless there's something, a rough sand or glass or something on that taping, that [the taping] is not going to do anything to the ball."
Chatter, both on the field and off it, about just how early reverse-swing is attained has been a near-constant in recent series between these sides.
Umpires have repeatedly pulled up both Australia and the Proteas about their sloppy bounce returns, while Warner was fined in 2014 after accusing AB de Villiers of using his keeping glove to wipe the rough side of the ball.
