Cricket: David Warner not planning to clear air with Quinton de Kock after 'vile, disgusting' sledge

David Warner and Quinton de Kock during a staircase stoush in Durban in 2018. Source / Supplied

Australian cricketer David Warner has no intention of clearing the air with South African counterpart Quinton de Kock after their standoff in the stairwell during Australia's last visit to South Africa.

Warner and de Kock's stoush in Durban was one of the ugliest moments of the 2018 test series, after de Kock made a derogatory comment about Warner's wife Candice and her tryst with Sonny Bill Williams more than a decade earlier.

The Australian side are back in South Africa this month, with a T20 series starting on Saturday (NZ time).

Speaking to reporters ahead of the series opener, Warner addressed the stoush with de Kock and said he hadn't spoken to the South African since.

"Obviously we'll cross paths playing against each other. But I don't have his number and I speak to a few of the South African guys but I've never played in the same team as him or anything like that," Warner told reporters in Johannesburg.

"Obviously it's a little bit different. I'm sure if I see him on the field and that, we'll just treat each other how we normally would as respectful opponents."

De Kock, now South Africa's captain, had similar comments when asked about the situation by reporters.

"I think me and (Warner) have moved on from there anyway," he said. "We just look to play cricket, we still both love to play the game really hard. But I don't think anything will happen.

"We'll just carry on with the way we need to go about things and won't worry too much about it."

For Warner and fellow Australian batsman Steve Smith, it will be their first match in South Africa since they were suspended for ball tampering during a test in Cape Town during the 2018 tour.

While Warner wasn't expecting the same hostilities during this tour as he experienced in 2018, he said if the South African fans target his wife again it will only be a bad reflection on themselves.

"It was poor," Warner said. "From my behalf, it's about moving forward. If people want to go to the game and carry on like that, then it's upon them," he said. "And they've got to look at themselves in the mirror and if they want to act like that, so be it.

"It doesn't bother me, but it shows (badly on them). They're representing their country as well. They're spectators watching a game of cricket. I'm pretty sure you don't want to be walking away here with the teams criticising the way (South Africa's) fans are acting. It's up to them."