South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has had his appeal against a ball tampering fine dismissed, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Wednesday. Du Plessis had been fined 100 percent of his match fee last month after being caught on camera during South Africa's second test against Australia in Hobart sucking a mint and rubbing saliva into the ball.
ICC Code of Conduct Commission chair Michael Beloff deemed that the "original sanction" by ICC match referee Andy Pycroft "was appropriate" and dismissed Du Plessis's appeal. ICC chief executive David Richardson described the offence as "an obvious breach" of the ball-tampering law.
"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," said Richardson in an ICC statement. Du Plessis had said last month that the original sanction risked opening "a can of worms" and accused the ICC of "using (him) as a scapegoat". He received backing from leading cricket figures, including Australia captain Steve Smith.
"I feel like I've done nothing wrong," Du Plessis had told reporters in Adelaide last month. "It's not like I was trying to cheat or anything. "For me (ball-tampering) is picking the ball, scratching the ball. "Shining the ball, I think all cricketers would say, is not in the same place."
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