Pakistan demand explanation after ICC hands down 'inconsistent' ball tampering punishment

Pakistan have demanded an explanation from the International Cricket Council after South Africa’s Faf du Plessis escaped with a fine of 50 percent of his match fee for ball tampering in the second Test in Dubai.

Pakistan were on the receiving end following the only previous occasion in Test history when the umpires have changed a tampered ball and imposed a five-run penalty, at the Oval in 2006. They were widely accused of cheating and, when they refused to take the field, the was Test forfeited.

The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Najam Sethi, tweeted: “PCB is writing a letter to the ICC, seeking explanation of inconsistency by match referee in application of tampering rule.”

Du Plessis, who pleaded guilty to the charge, was not given any suspension by the ICC match referee David Boon, he was simply fined half his match fee.

While it is not surprising that former Pakistan players have waded into the debate, they have gained support from a more unexpected source, England’s captain Michael Vaughan, who tweeted: “Anyone caught ball tampering should be banned for at least ten matches.”

Du Plessis was caught in full view of the television cameras when South Africa were fielding during Pakistan’s second innings. He is seen vigorously polishing the ball, which would be tolerated in normal circumstances, only in this case it was on the zip of his trouser pocket, a somewhat more abrasive substance than synthetic fibres.

The television commentator, former South African captain Kepler Wessels, said while the camera was on du Plessis: “The issue there is that zip. That’s the problem.”

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif also thought it was a problem. “The punishment is very lenient. I think Faf should have been banned for six months,” Latif said, “plus the captain of the team should be held responsible and punished.”

Pakistan’s former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who was not only fined but suspended for ball tampering in 2003, told Geo Television in Pakistan: “[The] ICC can’t do justice on merit. It doesn’t have any guts to do so.”

As match referee, Boon offered the extenuating circumstance that du Plessis’s act was “not part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball.” Given the vigour with which du Plessis rubbed the ball on his trouser zip, this was an unusual use of the wording “not deliberate”.

Du Plessis was spotted by the TV umpire, Paul Reiffel of Australia, on Friday evening. The on-field umpires, Ian Gould and Rod Tucker, called over South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith, changed the ball and awarded Pakistan five penalty runs.

Given that the South African pace bowler Vernon Philander was also caught on camera in the act of apparently scratching the ball with his left finger, the statement released by AB de Villiers, South Africa’s vice-captain, rang rather hollow: “Honestly, we’re not the team that scratches the ball. We don’t cheat, it’s as simple as that. I know Faffy very well, he’s the last man to try anything like that.” Except that du Plessis has now pleaded guilty.

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Heard It On The Street: Kankakee limiting cash-for-gold stores

There is a gold rush taking place in Kankakee. A rush, that is, to limit the number of cash-for-gold locations that have popped up in recent years.

The Kankakee City Council approved by a 14-0 vote Monday night a new ordinance that caps the number of cash-for-gold dealers — not jewelry stores — to three and imposes a $1,000 yearly licensing fee.

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Bourbonnais mom skydives to forget ALS

When the unrelenting grip of ALS is staring you in the face, the freedom of skydiving looks like a pretty attractive break from the physical limitations looming on the horizon.

That's the realization Katrina Shelby, of Bourbonnais, reached before she jumped from a plane at the Chicagoland Skydiving Center in Rochelle Wednesday.

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Beecher man killed in truck crash

Gary M. Schwartz, 42, of Beecher, died Wednesday morning after the pickup truck he was driving left the road and crashed into several trees Tuesday night, Will County sheriff's police said.

Police were called to Old Monee Road just north of Stuenkel Road about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

According to police reports, Schwartz was driving south on Old Monee Road when he lost control of his 2006 Ford F-150 pickup. It appears Schwartz was not wearing a seat belt.

Schwartz was transported to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and died at 5 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

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Fire at Denny's closes restaurant

Breakfast at Denny's this morning was a little hotter than normal.

A fire that was suspected to have started in the rooftop heating/air conditioning unit at the Denny's Restaurant at the corner of Armour Road and Illinois Route 50 early this morning closed the business.

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Jury set to issue verdict in Kankakee's 1st murder trial of '13

The jury is scheduled to begin deliberations this afternoon in the murder trial of Kimberly Nowlan-McCue, who is accused of stabbing to death her one-time friend over an apparent domestic dispute.

The week-long trial ended Thursday with video of McCue, 34, being interrogated by police hours after 29-year-old Elizabeth Jamison was fatally stabbed on New Year's Day in Kankakee.

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England seamer Stuart Broad stands his ground on walking saga to Michael Vaughan

England seamer Stuart Broad remains unrepentant about his controversial decision not to walk after he edged Australia spinner Ashton Agar to slip during last summer’s first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.

Broad was given not out by umpire Aleem Dar and went on to share a decisive partnership with Ian Bell which helped to give England a lead in the series which they went on to win 3-0.

In an interview with former England captain Michael Vaughan which will be broadcast on Radio5 Live this evening Broad insists that he did nothing different to most other professional cricketers. “My first comment on that whole incident is I could name you 18 or 19 players who played in an Ashes series who nicked it and didn’t walk,” Broad said. “We could be here all day if I named players from the past. I am trying to think of someone in the modern game who is consistently a walker.

“It’s a really interesting debate and something that got blown so out of proportion maybe because the Australians were frustrated they had wasted two referrals.

“It was an important moment in the game because, let’s be honest, if Belly and I hadn’t put on those runs, we wouldn’t have won the Test match so we would only have won 3-1 or something.”

Asked by Vaughan whether he would stand his ground again if the same situation were to happen in the first Test of this winter’s Ashes series, Broad said: “Yes. I won’t nick, I’ll hit it for four.”

Broad’s refusal to walk at Trent Bridge was criticised by Australia coach Darren Lehmann, who accused him of “blatant cheating” and urged Australia fans to make Broad cry this winter.

Broad revealed that Australia players had criticised Lehmann for his comments and that the coach had apologised to him for his comments.

“Ryan Harris came over to me and apologised. First of all he said from the players we have given him [Lehmann] a hard time and his comments were unacceptable,” Broad said. “Then he [Lehmann] came across and said: I meant it in jest. I said that in black and white it doesn’t look like jest to me. He said something along the lines of, listen to the interview, and I said, I have far better things to do with my time, and that was about it. We shared a nice beer and I said, 'See you in November’.”

Lehmann has since described England’s cricket as dour and questioned the technique of batsman Jonathan Trott but Broad said England would not be distracted by Australia’s attempts to play mind games.

“It’s like a big boxing match coming up a bit of trash talk. We are the side that don’t need to get involved in that, we are very happy where we are as a team, we have got some very skilful players,” Broad said.

“We don’t need to comment on Australia we don’t need to comment on them as a team. We are more than happy for them to comment on us.”

You can hear more in Stuart Broad Uncovered on BBC Radio 5 Live tonight at 9pm

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