Michael Vaughan, David Warner's wife Candice involved in ugly Twitter spat

Sydney: Michael Vaughan has refused to condone the “personal abuse” of Australia’s cricketers and their families during the controversial third Test against South Africa at Cape Town. On Monday, the former England captain was involved in a verbal debate on Twitter with Candice Warner, wife of David Warner.

Vaughan stated he was amused by visitors complaining about abuse from the local crowds. He seemed to suggest that it was the actions of the Aussies that resulted ignited the flame, but his comments caught the eye of Candice.

"It's making me chuckle the Aussies are making an official complaint about the personal abuse they are receiving," Vaughan wrote.

Candice then soon rushed to defend her husband and his teammates, giving the former England Test captain a fitting reply.

"I'm glad it's making you laugh," she tweeted before adding, "so you would approve of the same treatment to your wife and three kids."

However, Vaughan soon hit back. “Absolutely not…but offfield anger in my experience starts with on field behaviour by players, so maybe you need to look closer to home as to why, " he replied.

Earlier in the first Test, David Warner and Quinton de Kock were involved in an ugly spat where the Proteas wicketkeeper-batsman reportedly made comments about Candice's romantic tryst with New Zealand rugby star Sonny Bill Williams in a Sydney hotel in 2007. Fans also joined in with chants and donning Sonny Bill masks that rifled the Australians.

Earlier on Monday, Australia captain Steve Smith and deputy Warner stood down from captaincy roles after admitting to masterminding a plan of ball tampering during the third Test at Cape Town. Cameron Bancroft was caught on cameras attempting to rub a yellow object on the ball before confessing few senior members of the team had planned to cheat.