ADELAIDE: South Africa captain Faf du Plessis insisted Wednesday he wasn’t a cheat and warned cricket authorities had opened a “can of worms” after he was found guilty of ball-tampering in controversial circumstances.
Du Plessis was fined his match fee on Tuesday after being caught on camera sucking a mint and rubbing saliva into the ball during last week’s second Test against Australia in Hobart.
But du Plessis, who won backing from leading figures including Australian captain Steve Smith, said he didn’t think he had done anything wrong.
“I still completely disagree with that (decision),” du Plessis told reporters in Adelaide. “I feel like I’ve done nothing wrong... 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.”
Du Plessis argued the science was unclear about the effects of rubbing sweetened saliva on a ball, and said it was impossible to police such a rule given the drinks, sweets and chewing gum players use on-field.
Previous ball-tampering cases have involved the use of dirt, fingernails and beer-bottle tops to rough up the ball and alter its flight in the air.
“I just think it’s opened up a can of worms with what’s going to happen now going forward with the game,” du Plessis said. “Something like this needed to happen to create a bit more awareness around it.”
He added: “Obviously the ICC has taken a stance against me, to use me as a scapegoat now. But all I can ask for is that everyone gets treated the same.”
It is the second time du Plessis has been fined for ball-tampering, after he was docked 50 percent of his match fee in 2013 for scuffing the ball on the zip of his trousers in the second Test against Pakistan.
However, Du Plessis escaped a ban at Tuesday’s hearing and is free to lead the Proteas on Thursday in the third Test against Australia in Adelaide.
Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat said he would raise du Plessis’s case with the International Cricket Council and ask for greater clarity in the rules.
“It’s not something new. But it’s something that needs to be looked at,” he said.
“We will pick this up with the ICC. I understand the cricket committee had already earmarked this particular discussion at their next meeting in May next year,” added Lorgat.
Australia skipper Smith also voiced his support for his opposite number, saying: “I think every team around the world shines the cricket ball.
“I’ve seen Faf’s comments and look, from my point of view, and I make it very clear, that we haven’t come out and said anything about Faf or about how he was shining the ball or anything like that,” Smith said.
“We, along with every other team around the world, shine the ball the same way.”
Du Plessis joked that the incident had taken “shine” off South Africa’s achievement in thrashing Australia in the opening two Tests, leaving the hosts on the brink of their first ever home whitewash.
With Australia plunged into crisis, chief selector Rod Marsh quit and they will go into Thursday’s day-night Test with five changes to their team, including three debutants.
“When you think of Australian cricket teams of past, to see the changes now, that brings pleasure to see what we’re doing,” du Plessis said.
He said he would continue to shine the pink ball, which will be used in this week’s day-night Test — but that he would be careful about sucking mints.
“Probably just for bad breath now, not for shining the ball anymore,” du Plessis quipped. “Possibly for this one game I maybe need to stay away from mints.”
I’m no cheat, says du Plessis after tampering row
I’m no cheat, says du Plessis after tampering row
History-chasing Djokovic and Alcaraz to meet in Australian Open final after epic semifinal wins
- Carlos Alcaraz striving to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam
- Novak Djokovic is aiming to be the oldest man in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title
MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic finally beat one of the two men who have been blocking his path to an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles title when he edged Jannik Sinner in five sets Friday to reach the Australian Open final.
To get that coveted No. 25, he’ll next have to beat the other: top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
They’re both chasing history in Sunday’s championship decider, with the 22-year-old Alcaraz striving to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam.
The top-ranked Alcaraz also had to come through a grueling five-setter. He fended off No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in a match that started in the warmth of the afternoon Friday and, 5 hours and 27 minutes later, became the longest semifinal ever at the Australian Open.
That pushed the start of Djokovic’s match against Sinner back a couple of hours, and the 38-year-old Djokovic finally finished off a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win just after 1:30 a.m.
“It feels surreal,” Djokovic said of his 4-hour, 9-minute triumph. “Honestly, it feels like winning already tonight. I know I have to come back … and fight the No. 1 of the world. I just hope that I’ll have enough gas to stay toe-to-toe with him.
“That’s my desire. Let the God decide the winner.”
Djokovic was at the peak of his defensive powers, fending off 16 of the 18 breakpoints he faced against the two-time defending Australian Open champion. It ended a run of five losses to Sinner, and a run of four semifinal exits for Djokovic at the majors.
“Had many chances, couldn’t use them, and that’s the outcome,” Sinner said. “Yeah, it hurts, for sure.”
Alcaraz and Sinner have split the last eight major titles between them since Djokovic won his last title at the 2023 US Open.
Nobody knows how to win more at Melbourne Park than Djokovic. He has won all 10 times he’s contested the Australian Open final.
He said he saw Alcaraz after the first of the semifinals was over and he congratulated him on reaching his first final at Melbourne Park.
“He said sorry to delay,” Djokovic later explained. “I told him ‘I’m an old man, I need to go earlier to sleep!”
Djokovic, aiming to be the oldest man in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title, was kept up late.
“I’m looking forward to meeting him on Sunday,” he said.
Final 4
With the top four seeds reaching the Australian Open men’s semifinals for just the fifth time, Day 13 was destined to produce some drama. The season-opening major had been a relatively slow burn, until the back-to-back five-setters lasting a combined 9 hours and 36 minutes.
Alcaraz and Zverev, the 2025 runner-up, surpassed the 2009 classic between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco as the longest ever Australian Open semifinal.
Medical timeout
Alcaraz was as close as two points from victory in the third set but was hampered by pain in his upper right leg and his medical timeout became contentious.
He said initially it didn’t feel like cramping because the pain seemed to be just in one muscle, the right adductor, and he needed an assessment.
He navigated the third and fourth sets and was behind in the fifth after dropping serve in the first game. He kept up the pressure but didn’t break back until Zverev was serving for the match. He then won the last four games.
“I think physically we just pushed each other to the limit today. We pushed our bodies to the limit,” Alcaraz said. “Just really, really happy to get the win, that I came back. I just rank this one in the top position of one of the best matches that I have ever won.”
Believe
Asked how he was able to recover despite being so close to defeat, Alcaraz admitted he was struggling but said kept “believing, believing, all the time.”
“I’ve been in these situations, I’ve been in these kinds of matches before, so I knew what I had to do,” he said. “I had to put my heart into the match. I think I did it. I fought until the last ball.”
Zverev was demonstrably upset about the time out out in the third set, taking it up with a tournament supervisor, when his rival was given the three-minute break for treatment and a massage on the leg.
After the match, he maintained that he didn’t think it was right, but he didn’t think it should overshadow the match.
“I don’t want to talk about this right now, because I think this is one of the best battles there ever was in Australia,” he said “It doesn’t deserve to be the topic now.”
