A date for hearing Faf du Plessis’s appeal after he was found guilty of ball tampering during the Test series between South Africa and Australia should be announced this week, according to the South African team’s manager Mohammed Moosajee.
Du Plessis and the South African team returned from a successful tour to Australia on Tuesday evening, but some of the sheen was taken off their 2-1 series win Down Under after Du Plessis was found guilty of ball tampering during the second Test. Television footage emerged of him sucking on a sweet and then polishing the ball.
Du Plessis immediately appealed the guilty verdict. “The plan was always for (Du Plessis) to come back to South Africa, consult his legal advisors and then together (with the International Cricket Council) come up with a date that suits all parties,” said Moosajee.
“We are hoping that will be settled this week.”
Du Plessis said he hoped is case would provide clarity about the rules pertaining to how teams maintain the ball. “I feel I am in a position to challenge the outcome. I don’t think I was trying to do anything wrong I was just trying to shine the ball and obviously the ICC disagree,” Du Plessis remarked.
“But this is an opportunity to really look at how the laws of the game work exactly. The nice thing for me is that the general feeling from the rest of the cricket world is that everyone is on the same page with me. They agree it was blown out of proportion. It would be good if through me we can get some clarity.”
Independent Media