Australian fans could be the downfall of England during the upcoming Ashes series, according to outspoken South African skipper Graeme Smith.
Smith sent the warning to his England counterpart, Andrew Flintoff, ahead of the start of the ICC Champions Trophy, saying taunts from the Aussies could play a huge role in the series.
"How England deal with the crowds could be the biggest factor in the Ashes series," he told The Courier Mail.
"It will be England's main challenge - how they handle playing in Australia."
South Africa was subjected to racist taunts from the Australian crowd during its tour last summer, and Smith admitted it was difficult for his team to deal with.
"The racism stuff was hard for us. Most of us enjoy banter - we had grown up in that environment - but I think the racism and some of the crowd behaviour in Australia was very wrong."
Smith suggested Flintoff would need to divert attention away from his players in an effort to keep them focused.
"As a leader in Australia, Fred (Flintoff) is going to have to carry a lot of heat," Smith said.
"England is obviously going to be targeted a lot by the (Australian) media and the public, so how they deal with that is going to be crucial to their success."
