Australia’s first Test tour of South Africa since ‘Sandpapergate’ in 2018 begins with the first of three Tests in Durban on Friday – live on Sky Sports – as the top two in the world rankings do battle.

The ball-tampering scandal that rocked cricket occurred during the Cape Town Test in March 2018 – a series South Africa would go on to win 3-1 – when Cameron Bancroft was shown on TV using a small, yellow object that ultimately proved to be a piece of sandpaper to tamper with the ball.

He was banned for nine months by Cricket Australia for his actions, with 12-month bans dished out to then captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner for their part in proceedings and prior knowledge of the plan.

Reflecting on the incident more than six years on, former South Africa bowler Shaun Pollock told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: “I wasn’t on air at the time, but I can remember when it came out and the major impact that it had.

“We were getting messages from back home of people going, ‘I can’t believe this has happened’.

“For the next hour or two, whatever happened on the cricket field was kind of irrelevant to everything that was going on. We knew there was trouble brewing.”

Australia haven’t toured South Africa since, with a proposed trip in early 2021 called off due to the pandemic.

But South Africa did claim a notable victory over Australia at Lord’s last summer, winning the World Test Championship final, and Durban’s series-opener on Friday serves as the team’s first home Test in the 16 months since.

England visit for a three-Test tour of their own, starting in December. But Pollock believes it’s Australia who will be the prized scalp.

“There’s definitely something special about the Australia series,” he said. “There’s obviously some wonderful history between South Africa and England, and we’ll thoroughly enjoy that series too – I know the Barmy Army are coming out – but I think it’s Australia [if fans had to choose], to be brutally honest.”

“The World Test Championship win has definitely created a bigger appetite for Test cricket in South Africa. That’s been a real plus for us, and I’m sure the mace will be paraded around all the venues, considering it is Australia that we play.”

Pollock added: “What will their reception be? I don’t think it’ll be overly hostile.

“The coverage over here, there’s been quite a few replays of the [2018] series over the last few weeks, just to sort of create a bit of animosity, I suppose.

“But when you play against Australia, people in South Africa won’t need a reason to, I don’t know, write a billboard or have a go at them about some particular reason.

“I’m sure there’ll be a few people coming dressed up in accordance with Sandpapergate. I’m sure there’ll be some continual reminding of it. But I don’t think it’ll be over the top or too intense.”

As for the series itself, Pollock is predicting 2-1 successes in both series, against Australia and England, pointing to the former’s misfiring batting line-up as particular cause for optimism.

“Australia’s batting would be a concern for me,” he said. “I watched the one-day series and they didn’t play spin that well at all, and that might even tempt South Africa to play two spinners in the first Test.

“And there’s obviously a lot of talk in circles about should Marnus [Labuschagne] be there or should this guy be there? It’s not settled.

“Think back to the days we played, there were guys queuing up for an opportunity, and they only got a chance where there was injury. Whereas now it’s a case of kind of throwing all the balls up in the air.

“I just think they’re very unsettled. They rely massively on Steve Smith and Travis Head, in particular.”

Watch the first Test between South Africa and Australia live on Sky Sports Cricket from Friday (7.30am on air, 8.30am first ball).