South African captain Faf du Plessis lost the appeal for the much-highlighted ball-tampering saga last month against Australia.
The chair of the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission has dismissed the appeal made by the Proteas captain as he believed that he did not alter the ball on purpose when he was found guilty of changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 during the second Test against Australia.
As the original decision stands, a punishment of 100% match fee as fine and three demerit points are upheld. Michael Beloff (QC)‚ the judicial commissioner who heard the appeal made by Faf has submitted a 14-page report as the player legal team met in Dubai and a hearing took place over two and half hours on Monday.
Post the decision, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “It is the duty of the ICC to ensure fair play on the cricket field. Although it was not picked up by the umpires at the time, when the incident came to our attention subsequently, we felt it was our responsibility to lay a charge in this case because the ICC can’t let such an obvious breach of this Law pass without taking any action.”
“We are pleased that both the Match Referee and Mr Beloff QC have agreed with our interpretation of the Laws and hope that this serves as a deterrent to all players not to engage in this sort of unfair practice in the future.
“It goes without saying that we will be reviewing the outcome to determine if any additional guidelines are needed to provide further clarity to the players and umpires around this type of offence. However, we are satisfied that the Law is clear and is implemented consistently.”
Despite the original punishment, Faf du Plessis has some good news for the supporters as he will be able to play the boxing day test against Sri Lanka later this week. The Proteas captain, however, will have to be careful for the next 24 months, as another demerit point could see him get the one match suspension.