Despite how it appears, the regression from the new Warner - nicknamed "The Reverend" by his teammates for his recent behavior - to the old Warner was not immediate. The full relapse did not come until the end of the third test in Cape Town some three weeks later.

Between the time of his happy-go-lucky attitude on the series' first day, and the ball-tampering plan that might have ended his international career, Warner was perhaps worn down by the most abrasive, ill-tempered cricket series of recent times.

Seven players have been hauled to disciplinary hearings in the first three matches and while the majority of them have been Australians, South Africa hasn't been completely innocent. De Kock made a particularly unsavory comment about Warner's wife, leading to the staircase shenanigans.

South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has taken his on-field aggression to the limit, at least once right up in the face of Warner and to the shoulder of Steve Smith.

The management teams have sniped at each other, and supporters have taken their cue from what they've seen on the field.

South African fans in the second Test in Port Elizabeth taunted Warner about an encounter the player's wife had with a rugby star before the pair met, and a middle-aged man approached Warner and verbally abused him when the Australian batsman walked to the player pavilion during the Cape Town Test.

That might have been the last straw.

Retreating to a corner of the team's dressing room a day later, Warner encouraged young teammate Cameron Bancroft to tamper with the ball on the field illegally with a piece of sandpaper hidden in his pocket in the hope it would give the Australians an advantage.