Proteas’ cold shoulder

Philander says Smith was culprit

CRICKET: Vernon Philander has denied taking an extraordinary swipe at the character of Aussie captain Steve Smith, as South Africa stepped up their bid to get superstar quick Kagiso Rabada off suspension.

The Proteas announced plans to appeal the series-ending ban against Rabada to have the world’s No.1 bowler cleared for the third Test in Cape Town.

The International Cricket Council have confirmed a Judicial Commissioner would be appointed for a hearing to take place as soon as possible.

It’s unknown what defence South Africa are planning to mount, but Philander was believed to have given the appeal an explosive twist by taking to social media to blame Smith for the shoulder contact in Port Elizabeth that prompted the charges to be laid against his teammate.

The veteran paceman would later deny the tweet, saying he had been hacked.

Rabada (pictured) was punished for making deliberate and unnecessary contact with Smith after giving the batsman a heated send-off in the second Test in Port Elizabeth, but Philander has alleged that the Aussie skipper faked the incident – likening his actions to that of a diving soccer player.

“Havent really seen the footage of this incident but by the looks of this...Steve Smith gave KG the shoulder. He could have avoided any contact but to me he is just as guilty. Trying some football skills to get a penalty??? Pity he didnt dive to top it off,” was the original message on Philander’s Twitter account.

The allegation flew in the face of match referee Jeff Crowe’s declaration of Rabada’s guilt.

Philander later responded by tweeting: “got hacked ... sorry for all the drama or entertainment caused”.

Rabada remains an outside chance to gain a stunning reprieve for the third Test in Cape Town, if a Judicial Commissioner either chairs a hearing before the next Test, starting next Thursday, or allows the spearhead to play until a hearing occurs.

Match referee Crowe gave a strong condemnation of Rabada’s actions post-Test and the Judicial Commissioner would essentially need to rubbish the verdict of one of the ICC’s most respected figures.

“I found that there was contact between Rabada and Smith, and in my judgement the contact by Rabada was inappropriate, and deliberate,” said Crowe at the time the suspension was handed down.

“He had the opportunity to avoid the contact, and I could not see any evidence to support the argument that the contact was accidental.”

South Africa have a history of refusing to take decisions on the chin. Last time they were in Australia they tried to challenge South African captain Faf du Plessis’ mint-gate ball-tampering charge right to the death.

A bid they were unsuccessful with at every turn.

“Our strike rate is zero per cent at the moment with trying to challenge these cases,” said du Plessis. “It will probably stay at zero per cent. I don’t think there is a big turnover when it comes to (challenging) these things.”