Internet Desk: An “aggrieved” Faf du Plessis has decided to appeal against the International Cricket Council (ICC) decision to fine him for ball tampering in the second Test against Australia.
The ICC announced the verdict on Tuesday and fined the Proteas captain his entire match fee from the Hobart Test, but he avoided a ban for the third Test in Adelaide where he hit 118 not out on Thursday.
He was found to have been shining the cricket ball with a sweet in his mouth.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has confirmed in a statement that Proteas captain, Faf du Plessis, has appealed the decision of the ICC Match Referee which found him guilty of a breach of Article 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct.
“Faf has decided to appeal the match referee’s decision after he and his legal team had studied the written reasons provided by the match referee.” commented CSA Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat.
“In his mind Faf is clear that he did not alter the condition of the ball nor did he intend to do so and that the match referee was not correct to find him guilty. He is understandably feeling aggrieved.”
“CSA will support him to appeal the decision before an independent Judicial Commissioner as there are issues relating to fair and just process, interpretation of the rules, science and performance that needs to be considered,” concluded Mr Lorgat.
As the matter will be subject to further legal process, neither Faf du Plessis nor CSA will make further comment on this matter.
Meanwhile, the ICC in a statement is disappointed with Faf’s decision not to accept the findings of Match Referee Andy Pycroft and will instead exercise his right to appeal. A Judicial Commissioner will now be appointed to hear the appeal at the earliest opportunity.
The ICC will wait until the completion of the appeal before making full comment, but at this stage it is important to clarify the Laws of cricket. These state that a player should not use artificial substances to shine the ball. The ICC’s understands that to include, but is not limited to, sunscreen, lip ice and residue from sweets.
The ICC does not wish to prevent players from using these substances for legitimate purposes, however, any deliberate attempt to apply such substances to the ball, as was the case here, will not be acceptable. This will continue to be reported and the ICC confirms that unless the Laws are changed, the current practice of charging players when the evidence shows an obvious breach will continue. ICC Umpires will remind all teams of the Laws as they stand.
Following the appeal ICC will review the matter along with its members and the MCC to see if there are any learnings to be taken from this issue.