South Africa's Vernon Philander (C) stares at England's Jos Buttler (L) during the fifth day of the second Test cricket match between South Africa and England at the Newlands stadium in Cape Town on January 7, 2020. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis admitted after England beat them in the second Test at Newlands that the visitors have “thrown the kitchen sink at us”.
Indeed, the tourists were full value for their win.
However, it seems they’ve also hauled porcelain at the South Africans in terms of sledging.
Veteran all-rounder Vernon Philander bore the brunt of the verbals on Tuesday’s final day after the stump microphone caught England keeper Jos Buttler saying some pretty nasty things to him.
Philander had played a shot to mid-off, where the fielder threw the ball back to Buttler.
The ball nearly hit Philander, who seemed to have no intention of moving a bit out of the way.
That seemed to annoy Buttler, who was then heard saying: “F**king move, f**king knobhead.”
After Ben Stokes slipped in an inaudible sentence, the glovemen tells Philander to “Get past that f**king gut”, clearly referring to Philander’s burly frame.
To be honest, the Proteas seamer has had his fitness issues in the past.
There has been no indication whether the International Cricket Council will take the matter further, though it must be said that there verbals are still very common in all professional cricket.
The 189-run loss was a sad way for Philander to say goodbye to Test cricket at his home ground as he will retire after the series.
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