东道主南非队惊人的测试赛胜利被澳大利亚队擦球丑闻引发的全国性焦虑所掩盖。对南非板球运动员、管理者和支持者来说，砂纸门事件最令人惊讶的不是它发生了——毕竟在那场命运多舛的2018年系列赛前两场测试赛中，球曾可疑地出现反向旋转。气氛因夸因顿·德科克与大卫·沃纳在德班楼梯间的冲突，以及观众在伊丽莎白港对沃纳及其家人进行厌女辱骂而变得紧张。
The hosts’ stunning Test victory was overshadowed by the scale of national angst felt in Australia after the team’s ball tampering For South African cricketers, administrators and supporters, the most surprising aspect of the Sandpaper scandal was not that it happened. After all, the ball had been suspiciously reverse-swinging during the first two Tests of that ill-fated series in 2018. The atmosphere had turned febrile after a stairwell bust-up between Quinton de Kock and David Warner in Durban and after supporters directed misogynistic abuse at Warner and his family in Gqeberha.
纳森·里昂在巡回赛前曾承诺要“撞击底线”挑战可接受的界限。时任澳大利亚教练的达伦·莱曼来自旧派，那里的霸凌行为被“精神瓦解”这一说法糖衣包裹。
Nathan Lyon had promised before the tour to “head-butt the line” of what was acceptable. Darren Lehmann, then Australia’s coach, came from an old school where bullying was sugar-coated with the phrase “mental disintegration”.
不，最让南非人惊讶的是后果的规模，以及一小片砂纸怎么能引发如此巨大的国家焦虑。
No, what surprised South Africans most was the scale of the fallout, and how one tiny piece of sandpaper could cause so much national angst.