Smith: Cricket must be the winner

Steve Smith says a meeting was held between the captains and the match officials on how both sides can play the rest of the series in the ‘spirit of the game.’

The row between Quinton de Kock and David Warner has been overplayed. Both players have accepted their fines and demerit points and it is time to shift the attention back to the cricket.

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Incidents like this should be sorted out on the field if boundaries or ‘lines’ have been crossed.

Smith, however, confirmed that a meeting was held between the match officials and the captains.

‘It was nice to just have a chat and ensure that we’re playing within the spirit of the game and that cricket is what is written about and talked about after this game,’ said Smith on Thursday.

‘It’s all been about the indiscretions of the last fixture and that’s not what we want for the game. Cricket has got to be the winner, so it’s just about staying in line, continuing to play good, hard cricket.

‘There’s nothing wrong with a bit of banter out in the field. It’s just making sure we’re not getting personal or crossing any lines.’

Smith and Faf du Plessis have called for umpires to be more hands-on with their rulings on the field.

‘That was also talked about. More with the fact that if they hear something going on, it’s about going to either myself or Faf to ensure that we have our troops in line and playing within the guidelines. That was the conversation,’ said Smith.

Faf commented: ‘If the captain is not close by then, that role will fall onto the umpires to make sure if they see someone that’s continuously trying to get a reaction out of player.’