The Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland is confident the events of the first Test against South Africa were an "aberration". Australia opening batsman David Warner and South Africa wicket keeper Quinton de Kock were charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after their confrontation on day four of the Test in Durban. The tourists claimed a 118-run win to take a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series, but the victory has been overshadowed by the incident involving Warner and De Kock.

In a statement released before the second Test starts on Friday, James Sutherland said players knew what was expected of them. "CA has reminded the team of the standards of behavior expected of players representing Australia," he also added that "Those standards are spelled out in the ICC Code of Conduct and also the Preamble to the Laws of Cricket. As the Preamble states, cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its Laws, but also within the Spirit of the Game. This includes the need to be respectful of opponents, and CA expects this to be observed by players at all times. Unfortunately, neither team met this standard in Durban. The Australian team understands that fans expect better.”

The second Test match is to played on Friday at Durban.

Australia squads: Steven Smith(c), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers