Du Plessis calls for harsher penalties

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has once again gone on the front foot and called for harsher penalties for ball-tampering.

Du Plessis, a twice-convicted ball tamperer for incidents in 2013 and 2016, spoke on the issue before the Proteas departed for the tour of Sri Lanka, where the hosts could be without captain Dinesh Chandimal due to his involvement in another tampering scandal. 

When asked if the International Cricket Council should up the penalties for altering the condition of the ball, du Plessis said: "They have to. It's happening too often. They definitely need to do that as quickly as possible.

"I know they met a while ago but it doesn't look like anything has changed. It's still the same rules and stuff, so they need to change that. 

"The penalties needs to be harsher for ball tampering."

Fortunately for du Plessis, his plea may have already been answered.

The ICC Cricket Committee, the group headed by former India captain Anil Kumble tasked with revising and regulating international cricket, met in May and recommended to the ICC Board that the sanctions associated with ball-tampering be more severe.

As it stands under the ICC’s current Code of Conduct, the maximum penalty for ball-tampering is a one Test or two limited-overs match suspension. The proposed recommendation would see ball-tampering elevated from a Level 2 offence to a Level 3, which brings with it a maximum suspension of four Tests and eight limited-overs matches. 

While that increase will undoubtedly please du Plessis, the Proteas skipper made it clear he wants clarity about what defines ball-tampering. 

"I have probably said it too much but there are too many grey areas when it comes to the ICC and the rules," he said.

"One, you want clarity and, two, you want consistency and that's definitely something that's not been part of that body of laws for a while now. 

"There's a lot of captains that have been speaking about it for a lot of years so, hopefully, when they do bring in all these new things there will be a lot of clarity and, most importantly, consistency for all teams."

Ball-tampering again came under the spotlight this year after the Cape Town incident that saw Australians Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft involved in plotting and carrying out a plan to artificially alter the condition of the ball with a piece of sandpaper.

Smith was suspended by the ICC for one match for "conduct contrary to the spirit of the game", while Bancroft was fined 75 per cent of his match fee and handed three demerit points.

Cricket Australia, after its own investigation, then handed down much tougher sanctions. It suspended Smith and Warner for 12 months each, and Bancroft for nine months, from all international and Australian domestic cricket. 

In addition, Smith and Bancroft will not be considered for a leadership position for two years, while Warner can never hold a leadership role in Australian cricket again.

Chandimal was suspended for the third Test against West Indies after admitting to putting something his mouth in the second Test, but is facing a further two-match ban having been charged with a Level 3 offence for conduct contrary to the spirit of the game after Sri Lanka refused to take the field in St Lucia.

Chandimal, coach Chandika Hathurusingha and manager Asanka Gurusinha have pled guilty to the charge but are set to attend a hearing on July 10, two days before the first Test against South Africa, to ask for a lighter penalty. 

Should their appeal fail, all three members will miss the two-Test series set to be played at Galle and Colombo.