ICC disappointed by du Plessis' decision to appeal 'mintgate' verdict

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has expressed its disappointment after South African stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis decided not to accept the ball-tampering findings of match referee Andy Pycroft and instead chose to exercise his right to appeal.

On Tuesday, the 32-year-old was found guilty of breaching Article 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct after television footage appeared to show him chewing a white lolly in his mouth, licking his finger on the mint before repeatedly shining and rubbing the ball during the fourth day's play of the second Test against Australia in Hobart.

He was fined 100 percent of his match fee by the ICC, but was cleared to play the ongoing day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval.

When the ruling was made, du Plessis immediately made known his intention to appeal against his guilty verdict of ball-tampering which were made after hearing representations and evidence from the umpires as well as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) head of cricket John Stephenson and ICC match referee Pycroft.

A Judicial Commissioner will now be appointed to hear the appeal at the earliest opportunity.

"The ICC will wait until the completion of the appeal before making full comment, but at this stage it is important to clarify the Laws of cricket. These state that a player should not use artificial substances to shine the ball. The ICC's understands that to include, but is not limited to, sunscreen, lip ice and residue from sweets," the ICC said in a statement.

"The ICC does not wish to prevent players from using these substances for legitimate purposes, however, any deliberate attempt to apply such substances to the ball, as was the case here, will not be acceptable. This will continue to be reported and the ICC confirms that unless the Laws are changed, the current practice of charging players when the evidence shows an obvious breach will continue. ICC Umpires will remind all teams of the Laws as they stand," the ICC added.

The world's cricket governing body further said that after the appeal, they would review the matter along with their members and the MCC to see if there are any learnings to be taken from this issue.

Earlier, Du Plessis had denied allegations levelled against him and said he had been made a "scapegoat".

"I still completely disagree with [the verdict]. I felt like I've done nothing wrong," he said before the third Test.It's not like I was trying to cheat or anything, I was shining the ball. It's something that all cricketers do," du Plessis had said.