Faf du Plessis fined 50% match fees by ICC for ball-tampering

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Faf du Plessis has been fined 50 per cent of his match fees after breaching the ICC Code of Conduct. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23PakvSA&src=hash">#PakvSA</a></p>— PakPassion.net (@PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/PakPassion/statuses/393980881129308160">October 26, 2013</a></blockquote>
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South Africa’s Faf du Plessis has been fined 50 per cent of his match fees after breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the third day’s play in the second and final cricket Test against Pakistan in Dubai.

Du Plessis was charged with an article 2.2.9 offence of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to “changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 of the Laws of Cricket, as modified by ICC Standard Test Match, ODI and Twenty20 International Match Playing Conditions clause 42.1”.

The charge was laid by on-field umpires Ian Gould and Rod Tucker, third umpire Paul Reiffel and fourth umpire Shozab Raza after the end of third day’s play.

The incident that led to the charge being laid took place in the 31st over of Pakistan’s second innings on Friday afternoon when du Plessis was seen on television rubbing the ball in the vicinity of the zipper of his trouser pocket.

The TV Umpire brought this to the notice of the on-field umpires who, in accordance with Clause 42.1.1 of the ICC Test Match Playing Conditions, which deals with The Match Ball - changing its condition, replaced the ball, awarded five penalty runs to Pakistan and reported du Plessis.

Before the start of fourth day’s play on Saturday, David Boon of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees handed the fine to du Plessis who had pleaded guilty on Friday evening.

Commenting on his decision, Mr Boon said: “I am satisfied that the player’s actions warranted the umpires applying clause 42.1.1 of the ICC Test Match Playing Conditions, including the laying of a charge under the ICC Code of Conduct against Mr du Plessis in respect of changing the condition of the ball.

“After discussions with Mr du Plessis, he has elected not to contest that charge, but I am also satisfied that this was not part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball, and that the imposition of a fine of 50 per cent of his match fee is appropriate considering the circumstances.”

Penalties for offences included in Level 2 of ICC Code of Conduct can range from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of a player’s match fee and/or two suspension points, which translates as a suspension of one Test, two ODIs or two T20Is.

 

[amoni]

shocked at the fact there wasn't any suspension! and Vernon gets away scot free?

WOW

 

[MenInG]

Disgusting and sad for Cricket.

Cheat getting away with a slap on the wrist.

I can see the SA dressing room having a good laugh here.

 

[Haroon786]

WoW, pathetic, dubios, nefarious, surreptitious, startling, stupefuing, unjust action from the ICC

 

[coca-cola]

Well can't say I didn't see that coming. Quite disgusting really.

 

[Down2Earth]

Ridiculous. If a captain doesn't use up his overs in the allocated time he gets a ban whereas if you cheat and get caught you lose 50% of your match fees.

 

[coca-cola]

I guess a player needs to take a chainsaw to the ball for it be considered prolonged and deliberate.

 

[Bilal7]

What did you expect? Its not a Pakistani player cheating.

 

[Colt]

If it was a Pakistani... 2 match ban minimum.
ICC is so biased.
This victory is tainted, I feel sorry for you Saffers.

 

[JustAnotherFan]

Faf does not contest the charge and moves on. It seems every other cricketer in the past goes into a stage of denial regarding anything.

But yip, he was caught plain and simple.

 

[TNA]

Its Fafs first offence Afridi got suspended due to him being a multiple offender.

 

[TNA]

Faf does not contest the charge and moves on. It seems every other cricketer in the past goes into a stage of denial regarding anything.

But yip, he was caught plain and simple.

Whattchu talking about?

Afridi pleaded guilty straightaway.

 

[Luton Bad Boy]

Told you so...

 

[BHM :D]

If he was Indian or Pakistani it would have been everywhere in the news and he would have been banned for a few games.

 

[James]

5-run penalty and 50% fine is the normal punishment I guess...probably unjust, but blame the ICC.

 

[Sidcricfan]

50%? Can't believe its for ball tampering and not for slow over rate. Pathetic.

 

[ahmedzee]

Ridiculous decision. So Amir's ban sends wrong signal if reduced but faf gets only 50% match fee for actually cheating. I don't think a Pakistani would've gotten that for ball tampering. As for afridi's case, it was a 2 (or 3) match ban.

Brilliant stuff ICC , bravo!!! Good job in taking the game to the gutter

 

[Saeed]

White mans game. If he was Indian or Pakistani it would have been everywhere in the news and he would have been banned for a few games.

Indians get away its only Pakistan but don't worry everybody has their days.

 

[Varun]

What, that's it?

Unfortunately for the South Africans, it's a bit like the Pakistani trio being caught for spot-fixing back in 2010 - you start to suspect everything before and after. Come to think of it now, they bowled us out for 76 IN INDIA back when we were #1 in the world - need to see what the ball was doing on a YouTube vid, should somebody care to share. And those 40-odd all outs on them designer Cape Town pitches also arose out of a collapse AFTER a little while in the innings. Neither Australia, Pakistan nor New Zealand were 6/3 to begin with....

 

[Alien9511]

This is complete BS ! Honestly made my blood boil and reading Pat Symcox tweets isint helping me get over this either. Adnan Akmal got fined 50% for barely even doing anything against the rules, yet this idiot fully cheated and even admitted to it yet his penalty is nothing more than that of Akmal's. All time chokers of cricket are getting so defensive

 

[MenInG]

Guys - emotions are running high but pls dont make wild accusations or racist remarks

 

[James]

I agree with MIG. True colours emerging here. Some pretty low-grade racial comments being made.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Lol.

Farce decision.

This is the first time I've ever felt, it was the poorest decision by a governing body over a long time.

 

[JustAnotherFan]

If it was a Pakistani... 2 match ban minimum.
ICC is so biased.
This victory is tainted, I feel sorry for you Saffers.

So is this going to be the excuse for the innings and 150 runs defeat? lol

 

[kingusama92]

That's all?

Our team should tamper with the ball more often. This is nothing.

If someone does get caught, its just 5 runs and 50% match fees (the team can all chip in to pay for him).

 

[Saj]

The punishment is the minimum that Du Plessis could have received.

Frankly it's a joke and very lenient from David Boon.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

So is this going to be the excuse for the innings and 150 runs defeat? lol

First of all, we havent lost yet.

Secondly, IF WE LOSE, it won't be beause of this. Happy ?

Third, now moving on to the matter in hand , which is incidentally topic of the thread , How do you explain the double standards of ICC while punishing AFridi for ball biting compared to Faf ball-tampering?

Or is there a different set of rules for zippers and biters?

 

[Singham]

Ridiculous decision. So Amir's ban sends wrong signal if reduced but faf gets only 50% match fee for actually cheating. I don't think a Pakistani would've gotten that for ball tampering. As for afridi's case, it was a 2 (or 3) match ban.

Brilliant stuff ICC , bravo!!! Good job in taking the game to the gutter

What? Afridi was caught biting the ball.. later he denied it..faf didn't...here is afridi's denial.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOQo36HENrM

Afridi- I was just trying to smell the ball
Journalist - but you can't smell with your teeth
Afridi- sometimes you can...

 

[cars112]

In my time of watching cricket, this has been one of the more blatant ball tampering incidents caught on video.

As others have said, on the one hand the ICC is happy to ban players for multiple games for bowling 50 overs in 4 hours rather than 3.5 hours but blatant cheating receives just a slap on the wrist? Du Plessis probably makes more from an hour of an IPL game than the cost of this fine.

 

[Yossarian]

The punishment is the minimum that Du Plessis could have received.

Frankly it's a joke and very lenient from David Boon.

It not so much the punishment but the fact that David Boon says it was not deliberate or prolonged despite the video evidence to the contrary, including marks on the trousers around the zip area indicating this was not the first and only time he had this in the innings.

 

[ammar93]

This is just rubbish. Who says there's no bias? The guy deserves a few match bans at the very least. Absolutely disgusting.

 

[zains_rulez]

Shame on you ICC , you guys are such lame & double standard . . . There would be harsh punishment if any of Pakistani player done this !!

 

[Sherlock]

What? Afridi was caught biting the ball.. later he denied it..faf didn't...here is afridi's denial.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOQo36HENrM

Afridi- I was just trying to smell the ball
Journalist - but you can't smell with your teeth
Afridi- sometimes you can...

I don't think he denied it mate. He said he was doing it because of the match situation and wanted to win.

 

[Sherlock]

Afridi was called into a hearing with the match referee Ranjan Madugalle immediately after the match. Madugalle said Afridi pleaded guilty to the charge, apologised and regretted his action.

In later public comments, Afridi admitted to tampering the ball but added the practice was common among all teams. "I shouldn't have done it. It just happened. I was trying to help my bowlers and win a match, one match," he told Geo TV, a Pakistan-based news channel. "There is no team in the world that doesn't tamper with the ball. My methods were wrong. I am embarrassed, I shouldn't have done it. I just wanted to win us a game but this was the wrong way to do it."

It's easy to posts stuff contrary to the truth.

 

[Colt]

So is this going to be the excuse for the innings and 150 runs defeat? lol

Steyn reversing the ball after 20 odd overs in the first innings, scuffing up the ball and Murli Tahir getting more purchase of the pitch that early is what you missed.

Yes, we did play some horrid shots and our batsmen are crap but this is blatant cheating.

When we do it, its another yard stick for us and the whole world cries for bans. Then you have cheats like Philander that weren't even questioned while there is video evidence that clearly shows him using his nail to scratch the ball. ICC is 2 faced..

Did you really have to resort to cheating shamelessly after the first Test, we all know how this will be remembered in history.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Too less.Actually the ICC laws are an ass.

Why keep the punishment from 50% to 100% fine or 1-2 test ban.

Keep one punishment.MAtch Ban.So that some dont escape.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Indians get away its only Pakistan but don't worry everybody has their days.

Not true. Indians players have been penalised too by ICC in the past.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Indians get away its only Pakistan but don't worry everybody has their days.

Look up the number of bans Ganguly got.

 

[Yossarian]

As mentioned earlier, it's not so much the punishment being so lenient, but the explanation given by David Boon for his leniency is so mind-bogglingly biased and such a complete joke that it makes one wonder whether there is a deliberate policy amongst some of the umpires and match referees to 'protect their own', if you know what I mean.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Is there any way we can find out which country's players have got the maximum penalties by ICC? WebGuru can you please?

 

[asifp]

atleast a one match ban was warranted

 

[khalil1986]

Haha what a joke, anyway the real damage to SA is done already.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

This will only encourage players to tamper with the ball and confess(if caught). Get away with a 50% fine.

 

[waqar_ahmad]

“After discussions with Mr du Plessis, he has elected not to contest that charge, but I am also satisfied that this was not part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball, and that the imposition of a fine of 50 per cent of his match fee is appropriate considering the circumstances.”

Can someone please tell me what in the world does that mean?

Not deliberately changing condition of the ball? So what else was he doing exactly?

 

[Sherlock]

I'll copy this again....

It's not incomprehensible to think SA knew the new rules, and hence the punishment and decided to do what they did.

 

[amjad145]

This punishment is very lenient. Like zia UK haq once said "it's peanuts"

 

[Wattoo]

Poor stuff from match Refree. Punishment should be so that opponent team gets compensation.
Now a days players are making huge money by playing t20 leagues + ads etc. 50% fine is nothing but a slap on Pak.

 

[96NotOut]

And what about Philander? No punishment?

 

[Gilly]

Why it is difficult to digest when someone states the obvious ??? It is necessary because this is the reason in my opinion at-least and not the first time this happened.... Barbie got away with this kind of things quite a few times and on the flip side (GOD FORBID) if any Pakistani caught doing this western media would be in favor of sharia law in ICC and calling to cut his hands off to say the least.

I am Seriously shocked by double standard of international sports organization like ICC & its employees.

Do you mean if a Pakistani was caught doing this

or this

"In the last game of their acrimonious tour of England at the Rose Bowl, fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar could be seen apparently running his left thumb along the ball's seam before dropping the ball on the ground and standing on it with his spiked right boot," the 'Daily Mail' reported.

"Sportsmail's pictures were taken in the 41st over of England's innings as Shoaib prepared to bowl to Paul Collingwood," it said.

No stranger to controversy, Akhtar was filmed by Sky cameras flicking at the ball with his thumb during an ODI against England four years ago.
The 35-year-old was let off at that time. His behaviour also came under the scanner when he was accused of tampering with the ball during a Test match in Zimbabwe in late 2002 and was subsequently warned.

Shoiab was let off for this, not even fined 50% of his match fees.
Seems like people just want to play the race card simply because they are used of using it all the time.

 

[TalhaSyed]

"Zip-Gate" - An Absolute Disgrace!

I'm sorry to make yet another thread on the issue but I just have to get this rant out there!

18th June 2013: "They [England] seem to get the ball to reverse a bit quicker than the rest of the teams - If they are doing something funny with the ball, then it's definitely a concern, yes, but we've got no proof of that": A B De Villiers

25th Oct 2013: "Honestly, we're not the team that scratches the ball. We play in a fair manner. Obviously we want to swing the ball as much as you can and try to get it to reverse. We don't cheat, it's as simple as that. I know Faf very well, he's the last man to try anything like that": A B De Villiers.

26th Oct 2013: "Faf du Plessis Pleads Guilty of Ball Tampering" and gets off with a meaningless fine of 50% of his match fee.

The whole thing has been an absolute farce and disgrace! From 'the number 1 team in the world' resorting to cheating, to the vice captain blaming other teams of cheating, to the ridiculous meaningless punishment which du Plessis got off with in the end - an absolute joke!

Honestly, the fact that the sport is run by such a joke of an authority like the ICC who have so many double standards, and are so easily manipulated makes me feel embarrassed to call myself a cricket fan!

 

[dinakar]

Though I thought the punishment was farce, but now realize that's the protocol for the first offense. I was going through Dravid's profile and learned that he too only fined 50% for the ball tampering.

 

[Saqs]

Re: Faf du Plessis fined 50% match fees by ICC

5-run penalty and 50% fine is the normal punishment I guess...probably unjust, but blame the ICC.

Yeah its the five run penalty that really makes me laugh. What a ridiculous penalty really.

 

[James]

Yeah its the five run penalty that really makes me laugh. What a ridiculous penalty really.

Not even any point in the run penalty is there. Lolz.

Should be an automatic 1 Test or 2 ODI ban, IMO.

 

[Sherlock]

Shoiab was let off for this, not even fined 50% of his match fees.
Seems like people just want to play the race card simply because they are used of using it all the time.

Same as Anderson and Broad then

 

[SL_Fan]

Just a 5 run penalty and a fine? LOL That's a load of rubbish! Any one caught blatantly tampering with the ball or wicket should be suspended for at least 3 matches and fined their entire match fee. Also the run penalty should be something like 50 runs. Just 5 runs? Really ICC? How is that going to deter teams from doing it again. Ridiculous stuff!

 

[WebGuru]

Is there any way we can find out which country's players have got the maximum penalties by ICC? WebGuru can you please?

Well we can find which country got most penalties of runs and here is the list sorted by penalties in Tests. SA on top with 45 runs

 

[ahmedzee]

Double standards of ICC. On one hand they claim that a ban on Amir should be strict so that no one may commit the crime. On the other hand they hand a joke of a penalty on a cheating attempt. In ball tampering, one is trying to alter the result of the match, which I believe is very similar to Match Fixing (eventhough Amir is banned of Spot fixing, not match fixing).

This is something a lot of people have been claiming over the years, that Pakistan is a secondary team in cricket to fill in the numbers. If it was in the hands of ICC, they would've even banned Pakistani completely after the Spot Fixing scandal in 2010. Disgraceful organization indeed!!

 

[oyei]

Do you mean if a Pakistani was caught doing this

or this

Shoiab was let off for this, not even fined 50% of his match fees.
Seems like people just want to play the race card simply because they are used of using it all the time.

ok!, Shoaib should have been banned, the problem is not S. African or Pakistani players or any other player, the main issue is selective punishment for different players, ICC looks like a joke when different players get different punishment for similar offence. Boon said "His actions were not deliberate", so if it wasn't deliberate then what was it? to give out such statement makes ICC looks like bunch of clowns.

This isn't about Australia vs Pakistan, or Pakistan vs S. Africa, this is about "fan" vs ICC, an organisation for some reason trying it's best to ruin a game that we enjoy. ICC has become more inconsistent than Pakistani batsmen.

No one is playing race card, but Shoaib did get banned, Afridi did too, Barbi didn't, and faf didn't.

Boon "it was not deliberate", someone please explain, how was it not deliberate?

 

[oyei]

this .

elaborate further please. better yet, explain the highlighted part.

“After discussions with Mr du Plessis, he has elected not to contest that charge, but I am also satisfied that this was not part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball, and that the imposition of a fine of 50 per cent of his match fee is appropriate considering the circumstances.”

so Shoaib stepping on ball was deliberate, Afridi bitting was deliberate, but somehow "zipper and scratching the ball with nail was not deliberate?

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

Punishment is a joke

 

[LooneyReturns]

Why have they punished Asif and Amir so severely then ? I know it is 2 different scenarios
completely but in both cases , the players intended to cheat .

 

[Gilly]

Why have they punished Asif and Amir so severely then ? I know it is 2 different scenarios
completely but in both cases , the players intended to cheat .

The main reason is when they did hand out bans for ball tampering everyone complained that it was to sever (see Dravid and Tendulkar) and players should not be banned for ball tampering because everyone was doing it. So on October the 1st this year they downgraded the punishment.

In both cases Asif and Amir knew the penalties before they conspired and like Faf were given the absolute minimum penalty. Faf acted alone but Asif and Amir worked in conjunction with bookies to defraud people of money, completely different to what Faf did and far more serious.

 

[Yossarian]

The main reason is when they did hand out bans for ball tampering everyone complained that it was to sever (see Dravid and Tendulkar) and players should not be banned for ball tampering because everyone was doing it. So on October the 1st this year they downgraded the punishment.

Rubbish.
It was because the charge laid by was 'changing it's condition' and not ball-tampering.

Furthermore, according to David Boon, it was not 'part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball', meaning Boon did'nt think Faf was doing it deliberatelyor or had been doing it for a while. The video tape clearly shows that this is not true.

Not banning Faf has nothing to do with any rule changes on the 1st October and everything to do with the fact that Boon did'nt believe what he saw with his on eyes on the video tape and instead chose to believe a concocted explanation from Faf. And thereby charging Faf with a lesser offence which carried a lower penalty.

 

[Gilly]

And thereby charging Faf with a lesser offence which carried a lower penalty.

Fafs charge

Du Plessis was charged with an article 2.2.9 offence of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to “changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 of the Laws of Cricket, as modified by ICC Standard Test Match, ODI and Twenty20 International Match Playing Conditions clause 42.1”.

Afridis charge

Article 2.2.9 Changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 of the Laws of Cricket, as modified by ICC Standard Test Match, ODI and Twenty20 International Match Playing Conditions clause 42.1.

Looks like they charged Afidi with the lower offence too.

 

[trogger]

I still think they are scared to ban people for tests for ball tampering, nobody from any country or of any race has ever actually served a test ban for ball tampering yet multiple players have missed one dayers.

If this was a 5 game one day series and faf did this half way through i think he may have copped a 1 game ban.

 

[Abdullah719]

Today, all is forgiven.

 

[Suleiman]

Today, all is forgiven.

Absolutely not

This guy (potentially) stole the chance to break SAF's undefeated test streak from us. Ofc good chance they would've won still, but his antics with the ball definitely helped.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

Absolutely not

This guy (potentially) stole the chance to break SAF's undefeated test streak from us. Ofc good chance they would've won still, but his antics with the ball definitely helped.

Give the guy some slack man !! We won countless tests with Ajmal chucking to his hearts content, I don't see other countries having a go at those wins do they ??

At the end of the day he was trying to help his team win and it's not as if he was throwing the game away, spot fixing or something !!

I'd say the punishment was a bit lenient but we should be gracious of the fact that he is help cricket return to our beloved country.

 

[badsha001]

What about Afridi biting the ball and having a dance practice on the pitch during the test match?

 

[ExpressPacer]

I never considered this a big deal anyway.

1) It shows his commitment to South Africa.
2) Pakistani's are no angels.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

All is forgiven

 

[Slog]

Give the guy some slack man !! We won countless tests with Ajmal chucking to his hearts content, I don't see other countries having a go at those wins do they ??

At the end of the day he was trying to help his team win and it's not as if he was throwing the game away, spot fixing or something !!

I'd say the punishment was a bit lenient but we should be gracious of the fact that he is help cricket return to our beloved country.

also in the context of the game SA were already in the driving seat when this happened

they would still have won without it most likely

obv cheating is cheating but i think it was more a case of a bran fade and doing a stupid act

to say we would have def won without this is stupid