Stand-in Proteas Test captain Faf du Plessis faces a nervous wait as the International Cricket Council investigates him for possible ball tampering.
Du Plessis could land in hot water after footage emerged of him applying saliva to the ball with a sweet in his mouth.
The video was taken during the second Test in Hobart where South Africa took an unassailable 2-0 lead. It shows Du Plessis with a white sweet in his mouth, licking his finger vigorously before shining the ball.
Employing sugary sweets to enhance or protect the ball’s shine is a decades old trick that is in a grey area of cricket’s laws.
In terms of law 42.3 players are allowed to apply naturally produced bodily substances like sweat or saliva to the ball but they may not use artificial aids.
Clearly, sugary sweets are artificial. Just as clearly, players’ saliva would have to be tested before the start of play in every match and after every interval if the law was to be properly observed.
The match officials had 18 hours after the match to take action, and they haven’t.
South African team management said late yesterday the ICC had not “raised any concerns with us”.
But the ICC said the matter is being reviewed in Dubai. The organisation has a five-day window following the end of a Test during which it can lay a charge.
“The ICC has been alerted to the footage and is currently reviewing the incident,” an ICC spokesperson said.
This not the first time Du Plessis has come under the spotlight for ball issues and the tactic seems to be like those used by England during the 2005 Ashes series to enhance the swing of the ball.
In 2013, Du Plessis fell foul of the ICC and was fined for rubbing the ball on a trouser zipper during a Test against Pakistan.
Match referee David Boon at the time said he was satisfied Du Plessis’ actions were “not part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball”.
He was cautioned by both umpires in Perth earlier this month during the first Test regarding his fielders bouncing their returns to the wicketkeeper – a tactic intended to rough up one side of the ball and achieve reverse-swing.
Meanwhile, South Africa have indicated AB de Villiers will take over from Du Plessis as the Test captain when the team returns home.
Du Plessis, South Africa’s T20 captain, has led them against Australia only because AB de Villiers is at home recovering from elbow surgery.
And when De Villiers returns to action, probably in South Africa’s Test series against Sri Lanka that starts at St George’s Park on December 26, he will be back in charge.
“We’re happy with Faf as our current stand-in,” selection convenor Linda Zondi said in Hobart yesterday. “(But) at the moment that’s our position – AB is still the captain.”
Quite how the selectors are going to fit even a player as gifted as De Villiers into a team that is performing above and beyond every expectation is a tall enough order.
More than that, justifying taking the captaincy from Du Plessis, who is clearly more comfortable at the helm than either De Villiers or his predecessor, Hashim Amla, is going to take some doing.
“We will cross that bridge when we get there,” said Zondi.
“Faf has done a very good job. It was an easy process for us when the decision was made because he was already the T20 captain.”
Appointing the captain is a function of CSA’s board and not the selectors, although it is difficult to believe Zondi and his panel would not be consulted – particularly as they have proved themselves to have their fingers on the pulse of what the national team needs to be successful.
But it seems the board are happy to leave this ball in Zondi’s court, at least for now. “We don’t feel the need to add any more on this issue as our convenor of selectors ... has adequately addressed this topic,” media and communications head Altaaf Kazi said yesterday.
Such issues are trivial compared to the deep hole Australia are in after South Africa inflicted their fifth consecutive Test loss in Hobart on Tuesday.
The first casualty in that unfolding drama happened yesterday when Rod Marsh resigned as selection chair – hours after CA executive James Sutherland assured the media that Marsh would be allowed to see out his contract. — DDC-with additional reporting by Telford Vice
Faf sweats as ICC probe ball claims
Du Plessis could land in hot water after footage emerged of him applying saliva to the ball with a sweet in his mouth.
The video was taken during the second Test in Hobart where South Africa took an unassailable 2-0 lead. It shows Du Plessis with a white sweet in his mouth, licking his finger vigorously before shining the ball.
Employing sugary sweets to enhance or protect the ball’s shine is a decades old trick that is in a grey area of cricket’s laws.
In terms of law 42.3 players are allowed to apply naturally produced bodily substances like sweat or saliva to the ball but they may not use artificial aids.
Clearly, sugary sweets are artificial. Just as clearly, players’ saliva would have to be tested before the start of play in every match and after every interval if the law was to be properly observed.
The match officials had 18 hours after the match to take action, and they haven’t.
South African team management said late yesterday the ICC had not “raised any concerns with us”.
But the ICC said the matter is being reviewed in Dubai. The organisation has a five-day window following the end of a Test during which it can lay a charge.
“The ICC has been alerted to the footage and is currently reviewing the incident,” an ICC spokesperson said.
This not the first time Du Plessis has come under the spotlight for ball issues and the tactic seems to be like those used by England during the 2005 Ashes series to enhance the swing of the ball.
In 2013, Du Plessis fell foul of the ICC and was fined for rubbing the ball on a trouser zipper during a Test against Pakistan.
Match referee David Boon at the time said he was satisfied Du Plessis’ actions were “not part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball”.
He was cautioned by both umpires in Perth earlier this month during the first Test regarding his fielders bouncing their returns to the wicketkeeper – a tactic intended to rough up one side of the ball and achieve reverse-swing.
Meanwhile, South Africa have indicated AB de Villiers will take over from Du Plessis as the Test captain when the team returns home.
Du Plessis, South Africa’s T20 captain, has led them against Australia only because AB de Villiers is at home recovering from elbow surgery.
And when De Villiers returns to action, probably in South Africa’s Test series against Sri Lanka that starts at St George’s Park on December 26, he will be back in charge.
“We’re happy with Faf as our current stand-in,” selection convenor Linda Zondi said in Hobart yesterday. “(But) at the moment that’s our position – AB is still the captain.”
Quite how the selectors are going to fit even a player as gifted as De Villiers into a team that is performing above and beyond every expectation is a tall enough order.
More than that, justifying taking the captaincy from Du Plessis, who is clearly more comfortable at the helm than either De Villiers or his predecessor, Hashim Amla, is going to take some doing.
“We will cross that bridge when we get there,” said Zondi.
“Faf has done a very good job. It was an easy process for us when the decision was made because he was already the T20 captain.”
Appointing the captain is a function of CSA’s board and not the selectors, although it is difficult to believe Zondi and his panel would not be consulted – particularly as they have proved themselves to have their fingers on the pulse of what the national team needs to be successful.
But it seems the board are happy to leave this ball in Zondi’s court, at least for now. “We don’t feel the need to add any more on this issue as our convenor of selectors ... has adequately addressed this topic,” media and communications head Altaaf Kazi said yesterday.
Such issues are trivial compared to the deep hole Australia are in after South Africa inflicted their fifth consecutive Test loss in Hobart on Tuesday.
The first casualty in that unfolding drama happened yesterday when Rod Marsh resigned as selection chair – hours after CA executive James Sutherland assured the media that Marsh would be allowed to see out his contract. — DDC-with additional reporting by Telford Vice
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