Johannesburg – Proteas opener Dean Elgar says this is the “most docile” Test match he has ever played against Australia. 

It certainly looks that way from the outside, looking in.

READ: Pain can’t stop Morkel as Proteas boss Aussies

Following the controversy, intensity and verbal warfare – from both sides – that went into the first three fixtures of the series, the Wanderers Test has been unremarkable in every way. 

Australia are trying to win back the trust of their fans since the ball-tampering incident at Newlands left them the laughing stock of the cricket world and the disgrace of their own country. 

Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft have all been dealt with by Cricket Australia since then while coach Darren Lehmann has resigned.

But Tim Paine, the man tasked with leading Australia out of this mess for now, has made a clear effort to play the game in a friendly manner as Australian cricket tries to convince the world that it is ready to change its culture. 

Paine orchestrated team handshakes before the start of day one and his players, throughout the Test, have been noticeably jovial with their South African opponents. 

It has all made for an extremely unfamiliar picture. 

“It’s odd. I’ve played quite a few Tests against Australia and it’s definitely been the most docile … I don’t think it’s going to last very long,” Elgar, who made 81 on Monday, said.

“I think you need to have a tenacious approach in Test cricket.

“Nice guys come second, that’s my saying. You’ve got to have an element of proper fight, and sooner or later if your bowlers are clocking massive overs and biting their tongue, they will unleash something.

“There are a lot of frustrations over the course of five days. It’s only human nature for guys to potentially say words to each other, but that’s fine as long as it’s not personal and it just has a competitive edge, I am ok with that.”

When asked if he preferred the hostile environments of the first three Tests, Elgar was reluctant to take a stance.

“It’s never nice being called nasty things on the field, but I don’t mind that,” he said.

“It gets me going, so I will use that to my advantage. We are playing Test cricket and we have a massive goal as our team.

“You need to put personal things aside and focus on what your team needs. We’ve been quite hard on that goal, and hopefully we will achieve it tomorrow.

“It’s not about me, it’s always about the side.”

The Proteas will resume on day five needing seven wickets to win the fourth Test, while Australia need 524 runs to save the series.

Sydney – Former Australia vice-captain David Warner apologised in tears on Saturday for his role in ball-tampering but said he may appeal his 12-month ban in the latest emotional public appearance over the scandal. 

READ: Markram silences critics after ‘eye-opening’ week

A sobbing Warner said he realised he may never play for his country again. But he stonewalled questions about who was aware of the plot and whether it was the first such incident within the team. 

Warner, 31, told a media conference in Sydney: “I can honestly say I have only wanted to bring glory to my country through playing cricket. 

“In striving to do so I have made the decision which has had the opposite effect and it’s one that I will regret for as long as I live.” 

Warner’s appearance comes after similar heartfelt apologies by opening batsman Cameron Bancroft and captain Steve Smith, who broke down when he faced the media on Thursday. 

Coach Darren Lehmann, convinced to step down after seeing the apologies from Bancroft and Smith, was also tearful as he announced his resignation. 

Smith and Warner were banned from international and domestic cricket for a year and Bancroft was suspended for nine months after the incident during the third Test in Cape Town. 

Bancroft was caught on camera trying to use yellow sandpaper to alter the ball, an offence which triggered an outpouring of criticism against the hard-nosed Australian team. 

Warner, a dynamic batsman but a divisive figure in the game, was charged by Cricket Australia with developing the plot and telling Bancroft to carry it out. 

When questioned about a possible appeal, Warner said: “That’s something that I will continue to sit down with my family and weigh up all my considerations before I make any decisions.” 

A report on Saturday said Bancroft was set to lodge an appeal and had sought legal advice ahead of Thursday’s appeals deadline. 

Warner, who struggled to control his emotions during his 10-minute media conference, apologised to both teams, their fans, Cricket Australia and his family, including his wife Candice who was also crying as she watched from the media seats. 

But when asked for further details of the plot, such as whether it was his idea, who else was aware and whether it had happened before, he avoided the question. 

“I am here today to accept my responsibility for my part and my involvement for what happened in Cape Town,” Warner said. 

“It’s inexcusable, I am deeply sorry. I will do everything I can to earn back the respect of the Australian public.” 

Warner, who has played 74 Test since his debut in 2011, said he would be seeking ways to make character changes. Warner, who has been described as the team’s “attack dog”, was also banned in 2013 after punching England’s Joe Root in a bar. 

“I suppose there is a tiny ray of hope that I may one day be given the privilege of playing for my country again, but I am resigned to the fact that may never happen,” he said. 

“But in the coming weeks and months I am going to look at what has happened and who I am as a man. 

“To be honest, I am not sure right now how I will do this, I will seek out advice and expertise to make serious changes.” 

Warner called it a “horrible” decision, adding: “I failed in my responsibilities as vice-captain of the Australian cricket team.” 

The fallout from the crisis has seen Warner dumped by sponsors ASICS and LG. Along with Smith, he has also been ejected from this year’s Indian Premier League, losing contracts worth nearly $2 million each.

READ: Proteas, Australia ‘shake off’ bad blood

London – Shane Warne branded reaction to the Australian ball-tampering scandal a “tornado of hysteria” on Wednesday and said the punishments meted out to Steve Smith and David Warner do not fit the crime.

READ: REVEALED: What Lehmann said over walkie-talkie 

Captain Smith and vice-captain Warner have been banned from representing their country for a year over the cheating incident during the third Test in South Africa, while opening batsman Cameron Bancroft has been suspended for nine months. 

“We are all so hurt and angry and maybe we weren’t so sure how to react,” Warne wrote on Facebook. “We’d just never seen it before. 

“But the jump to hysteria is something that has elevated the offence beyond what they actually did, and maybe we’re at a point where the punishment just might not fit the crime.” 

The former leg-spinner – second on the overall list of Test wicket-takers – said Australia’s enemies had taken the opportunity to put the boot in. 

“There are those countries that don’t like Australia, don’t like individuals in the team, and there has been a build-up of hate which has exploded and created this tornado of hysteria,” he wrote. 

“But what are the players guilty of? Cheating via ball-tampering and bringing the game into disrepute. 

“Their opposing captain in this series, South Africa’s Faf du Plessis, has been charged with the offence twice and opening bowler Vernon Philander once. 

“The list of players who have been charged with ball-tampering is long and contains some of the biggest names in the game.” 

Warne also questioned the idea of pre-meditated cheating. 

“Are there levels of ball tampering, or is it just ball tampering? Is putting a mint in your pocket so you can shine a ball on the field pre-meditated cheating, or just ball-tampering. What about putting sunscreen on the ball? You either ball tamper or you don’t.” 

Warne said Smith, the top-ranked Test batsman in the world, was guilty of a “severe error of judgement”. 

“I am still trying to wrestle with what I think the punishment should be,” he said. “They have to be harsh, but if they are rubbed out for a year, the punishment does not fit the crime.”

READ: Warner banned for 12 months

Sydney – Australia’s cricketers have heaped disgrace and humiliation on the country, the local press said on Monday in blasting the “rotten” team culture under the current leadership. 

READ: Was Steve Smith lying? Shocking footage suggests he was!

The hard-hitting commentary follows captain Steve Smith admitting he cheated by hatching a plot to tamper with the ball during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday. 

Cricket is considered the national sport in Australia and the stunning developments have not gone down well. 

“Smith’s Shame,” screamed The Australian broadsheet on its front page, in remarks echoed by other media. 

“The cheating has hurt Australian cricket from helmet to boot,” it said in a commentary calling for Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland to stand down. 

“In charge of the game for nearly two decades, Sutherland has done little to change the rotten culture of the sport at its most senior level.” 

It added that the scandal had dumped “disgrace and humiliation” on the nation. 

In the same theme, the newspaper’s cricket writer Peter Lalor asked: “Where were the adults in the room? 

“The answer to the question is, sadly, that these are the adults. Or the nearest thing to them that the game can summon.” 

Television footage showed Smith’s team-mate Cameron Bancroft taking a yellow object out of his pocket while fielding in the post-lunch session on Saturday and appearing to rub it on the ball. 

He was punished by the ICC with three demerit points and fined 75 percent of his match fee, while Smith was fined all his match fee and banned for a match. 

Cricket Australia is conducting its own investigation into what happened, as calls mount for heads to roll. 

READ: Open letter to Steve Smith from Australian cricket fan and father

Sydney Daily Telegraph sports writer Robert Craddock said Smith’s decision was not a moment of madness. 

“It was the culmination of a grubby win-at-all-costs culture finally crossing from self-righteous rule-bending into a world of shameless, bald-faced cheating,” he wrote. 

“Steve Smith’s reputation – and that of his team – will never recover from this episode.” 

The Sydney Morning Herald was equally scathing, saying Australia’s cricket leadership had “lost the plot” and there will be a heavy price to pay. 

“As this disreputable tour descended from the gutter into the sewer, the mythical line the Australians use as the yardstick for their behaviour has not only become blurred but disappeared altogether,” it said. 

“This has been a truly awful few weeks for Australian cricket whose reputation has hit a new low. Rehabilitation will be long and slow.”

Cape Town – Shane Warne put it succinctly, as the leg-spinning legend often enough does.

“South Africa have had two big chances to really put the foot on the throat, but not (taken them),” he said in SuperSport’s post-play analysis after day two of the third Test against Australia at Newlands.

Old adversary as Proteas captain but now colleague in the commentary box, Graeme Smith, pursued a virtually identical theme: “South Africa had two opportunities to command the game … and let both slip.”

They were referring, of course, to the home nation’s marvellous positions early in the final sessions of both Thursday and Friday, before crucial Aussie second-wind initiatives stabilised the tourists’ own plans in the enduringly ding-dong, engrossing series.

On day one, the Proteas were rattling along at 220 for two before Pat Cummins led a concerted fightback in the lengthening shadows; the batting side were eventually dismissed for 311 from that once-idyllic platform.

But the last hour on Friday also saw the visitors dig themselves spiritedly out of a fairly pronounced hole, some lusty hitting by off-spinner Nathan Lyon (career-best 47 off 38 balls) turning their 175 for eight into a significantly more palatable 245 for nine for them by early stumps due to bad light.

Yes, they were galling developments for South African enthusiasts, who for much of the last year – and more? — have seen the Proteas routinely mix the sublime with the sloppy in Test cricket, explaining their erratic sequence of series result.

Nevertheless “Biff” Smith, whether Australians wished to brand him a tad parochial or not, put a pretty fair perspective on things, as stumps were drawn with the Proteas 66 runs to the good on the first innings and with one remaining first-knock wicket to snap up on Saturday.

“(The Proteas) can still feel happy with their work today. They remain in a solid position … have got a bit of leeway.”

He may well be right.

Bearing in mind the hazard of having to bat last on a pitch that should go increasingly up-and-down and abrasive, Australia ideally should be seeking a lead of around 40 or more on the first dig – rather than a deficit that may well end up being in the region of 60 or thereabouts.

So in some senses, those inevitably cursing the Proteas losing a bit of composure in the field late on Friday might instead want to consider cutting Faf du Plessis’s troops some slack: they could be said to be “a century” in front of this game, roughly as things stand.

Almost undoubtedly, theirs are the shoes still better to be in, even if the Newlands pitch can be a quirky old devil and this contest will still produce some delicious twists and turns, you can almost be sure.

So there was no special reason for the SA dressing room to be too downbeat on themselves after the second day’s play, especially as there was the far from un-joyous matter of celebrating popular Morne Morkel’s ascension to the 300-wicket mark in probably his second-last Test match.

Assuming that they do command a first innings lead of around 60, statistics at the ground suggest that a resolute enough third knock in this contest by them – perhaps somewhere in the region of 220-240 or northward? – would put them in a prime position to press for a win and 2-1 series lead with just the Wanderers to play.

Only once has a target of above 300 been successfully hunted down before in the fourth innings at the venue, when Steve Waugh’s Aussies of 2001/02, needing 331 to secure the three-match series in the second Test, got to 334 for six (Ricky Ponting 100 not out, Matthew Hayden 96).

You drop almost 100 runs for the next successful chase-down.

So even as the Proteas unavoidably rue a dose of “what might have been”, there is a bigger picture out there, just waiting to be sold to the most appropriate bidder.

The best stash of dosh is still in the home pocket.

*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing