Faf du Plessis was not only frustrated but also suspicious when Mitchell Starc's reverse swing was causing carnage with its late dip in the top order in the tight Test series in South Africa during the Spring of 2018.

The scandal that ensued over the next few days in Cape Town is now the most notorious in modern cricketing history. Cameron Bancroft hid a piece of yellow sandpaper inside his trousers, and all three were given heavy sanctions.

Ahead of Australia's visit to Newlands, Faf has shown how the Proteas were quietly on the sidelines, blowing the whistle to the media.

The Secret Memo to SuperSport: Faf Du Plessis reveals

Du Plessis spoke on The Grade Cricketer and revealed that they became aware early in the 2018 series that the ball was moving out of its natural parameters.

“We could tell it was happening during the first Test. We thought it was ridiculous.”

From a mindset of wanting to find out how Australia's pace attack was doing what they were doing so well, they wanted to understand why they had such life out of the ball. Reverse swing has been regarded as the dark art of Test cricket for generations and has always been one of the most admired skills in the game.

“For us we just regard reverse swing as part of the game. Are we going to try and understand what they are doing? How can we do it? Because reverse swing is an art of Test cricket and is one of the great things about it. Starc was a jet plane with the reverse swing, and he absolutely destroyed us in the first Test.” – Faf du Plessis

South Africa wanted to make their concerns known and sent a memo to the local host broadcasters SuperSport, telling them to simply follow the ball.

“We had two things. One was, we're going to follow the ball, only one person was getting the ball at mid-off.

And obviously we went to PE (Port Elizabeth) for the second test so they sent a memo saying 'just follow the ball' to SuperSport,” Du Plessis said.

SuperSport's cameramen focused on the mid-off fielder. This led to some indisputable proof being found during the third test match at Newlands.

Whilst the scandal put a damper on Australian cricket as a whole, Du Plessis surprisingly showed a lot of empathy towards Bancroft after having run-ins with the ICC's ball tampering rules himself.

Faf Du Plessis has been cited twice for ball tampering.

First in 2013 when playing against Pakistan after using his zip to scuff the ball. Then again in 2016 against Australia after using sugary saliva from a mint.

Faf Du Plessis on young players' pressure:

“I can empathize with Cameron Bancroft because I was in the exact same situation. We went to Pakistan and I had played five tests… and you'll do anything to play in the test team just to be one of the boys. I was doing it and I heard it and I looked up and I go, 'Oh my dear'. It's on the big screen, exactly the same thing he's getting.”

Steve Smith came out and supported Du Plessis in 2016 during his Mintongate controversy so he returned the favor by adding that whilst the boundary was pushed, it was also something common among all international teams at the time.

Extinction of a beautiful art

Not only did it result in suspended captains, but it also changed how Test cricket is played.

With strict enforcement since 2018 and constant monitoring on TV, reverse swing has been completely eradicated from international cricket. Umpires are much stricter and players cannot use to be able to use techniques that were previously common such as bouncing the ball on the rough and dry areas of the pitch to scuff one side.

“It changed reverse swing. It was really a line in the sand for everybody going forward that looked at that ball going, 'Should I? No absolutely not',” Du Plessis said.

“You could look at the ball, turn it over in your hand, chuck it and bounce it on the roughest bit of the pitch. Now you can't even look at the ball, and you can't bounce it. Everything has just changed in that aspect.”

As both Australia and South Africa will face off again in Cape Town, there will still be some shadows from 2018 over Newlands; however Du Plessis believes the game has evolved forever. One of the most exciting aspects of Test cricket has been lost to the sands of Cape Town.