Warner fined 15 pc match fee for accusing De Villiers of 'ball tampering'

Australian opener David Warner has reportedly been fined 15 per cent of his match fee- an amount of 2900 dollars, for accusing South African batsman AB de Villiers of ball tampering during the second Test at Port Elizabeth.

The ICC charged Warner under its code of conduct with 'public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an international match or any player, player support personnel, match official or team participating in any international match'.

According to Telegraph.com.au, Warner pleaded guilty to the charge and accepted the penalty with match referee Roshan Mahanana saying that the explosive batsman had shown a lack of respect by publicly denigrating an opponent when commenting on a match-related incident and implying that he is engaging in 'sharp practice'.

The report mentioned that a day after South Africa humiliated Australia with reverse swing to level the series at one-all with a 231-run victory, Warner questioned how the opposition, especially De Villiers, treated the ball and hinted at ball tampering.

However, Warner's teammate and fast bowler Ryan Harris does not believe South Africa is guilty of ball tampering and said that South Africa never did anything 'illegal' with the ball to try and make it reverse swing, otherwise they would have been found out soon.

Harris further said that that the hosts had experience at St.George's Park and were aware of what they needed to do, adding that throwing the ball into the ground like the South Africans did is proper as long as a bowler is doing it from the outfield.