Hobart Test: Faf Du Plessis Used Mint to Shine the Ball

Faf Du Plessis has been accused of cheating by using mint to shine the ball in the Hobart Test against Australia. A video has emerged which proves Du Plessis guilty under section 42.3 of MCC Cricket laws.

Faf Du Plessis led South African team annihilated the Australians by winning the 2nd match of the test series with an innings and 80 runs. However, Du Plessis is now under investigation for tampering the ball on the final day of the match.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is reviewing the video and till now, no charges have been filed against the South African Captain. The 18-hour window for umpires to lay charges against him has elapsed and now only ICC chief David Richardson can press charges against him. If ICC is unable to act on this then Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland will have the lone authority to do so.

In 2005, a similar incident happened when England Team was accused of tampering the ball by using lolly to make the ‘Kookaburra’ swing during the early moments of-of the match.

Some other ball tampering cases:

1. Faf Du Plessis was fined with 50% of the match fees during a game against Pakistan in 2013 where he was seen rubbing the ball against his trouser’s zipper.
2. Du Plessis was subjected to a similar allegation in 2014 during a heated test series against Australia.
3. The player was also warned by the umpires last month for bouncing the ball while returning it to the keeper. This tactic makes one side of the ball rough and helps in reverse swing.

All said and done, there had been many chances in the past where such claims were dismissed after proper investigation and the given proofs were marked as deviations or an attempt to declass a player.

Meanwhile, Faf Du Plessis will continue to lead South Africa in the third and the final test match against Australia. The captain said in an interview that the team is eying a whitewash of the oppositions in their own backyard.

16 November 2016
Rohan Jaitly