We might have to wait until next week Thursday, March 22, for the third test against the Ozzies to kick off, but that doesn’t mean the drama is subsiding.

Yesterday I mocked the Sydney Morning Herald for mixing up Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, and I also mocked Steve Smith for saying that the Ozzies actually wanted KG to play in the rest of the series, rather than being suspended.

They might just get their wish, with Rabada appealing against his Level Two sanction – read more about that here.

With some time to kill before the Newlands test, you can’t blame the players for letting off a little steam, but now everyone is talking about a tweet sent last night by Proteas favourite Big Vern.

He has since deleted the tweet, but screenshots last forever. This went out shortly before midnight:

Vern, nothing good ever happens on Twitter after 11PM.

Of course he is just saying what every South African, and every non-Australian around the world, is thinking, but a tweet like that was always going to stoke tensions.

So what did Vern do this morning? Well, he went the hacked route:

I’m a huge fan, Vern, but you’re telling us someone hacked your account and that’s what they chose to post? At midnight?

Come on dude, the old ‘I was hacked’ after sending out something silly excuse is becoming rather well-worn.

Twitter agreed:

Still too soon for that, Roach – we’ve only had 26 years to recover.

As you can imagine, the Ozzie media are having a field day with this one. This is from Cricket.com.au, Cricket Australia’s official website:

It also includes this thinly-veiled barb:

Former South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock added a rare voice of reason from the Rainbow Nation, saying Rabada’s history made the ban warranted.

“It’s the accumulation of points, it’s not an isolated event,” Pollock told Wide World of Sports.

A rare voice of reason from the Rainbow Nation, says the country rallying behind David Warner.

Is Vern going to land himself in some hot water for this “hack”? Well. Old Man’s pisstake tweet might not be far from the truth:

Also, this is gold:

Let’s just hope the cricket on the field matches the drama off it.

And Vern, no tweeting after 11PM please.

[source:cricketau]