The Chair of the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission, The Hon Michael Beloff QC has dismissed Faf du Plessis’s appeal after the South African captain was found guilty of changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 during the fourth day’s play in the second Test against Australia in Hobart.
Accordingly, the original decision of ICC Match Referee, Mr Andy Pycroft, finding du Plessis guilty of a breach of Article 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct will stand. Mr Pycroft had handed a 100 per cent match fee fine, and consequently three demerit points, to du Plessis on 22 November following his hearing of the charge, which was laid by the ICC Chief Executive David Richardson.
Under the provisions of the ICC Code of Conduct, Mr du Plessis was represented by legal counsel in the appeal hearing convened in Dubai on Monday that lasted 2 and a half hours, which the player himself joined via video link. Having carefully considered the legal submissions made by the player and the ICC, Mr Beloff QC confirmed that du Plessis was guilty of breaching Article 2.2.9 and that the original sanction of 100 per cent of his match fee was appropriate.
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.”
