De Villiers ball-tampering row as hero Wood seals series win
AB de VILLIERS reacted angrily after becoming embroiled in a ball-tampering row with the umpires during the second one-day international in Southampton.
A brilliant last over from Mark Wood, which only conceded four runs with South Africa needing seven to win, saw England win the match by two runs and establish an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
However, Rob Bailey and Chris Gaffaney spoke to the South African captain after 33 overs of the England innings, believing that one of the two balls now used in each one-day international innings was showing more wear and tear than the other.
The ball wasn’t changed, because the officials had no evidence of any wrongdoing. But according to playing regulations they were in their rights to speak to De Villiers
on the basis of a suspicion. De Villiers vehemently protested his side’s innocence, blaming a poorly manufactured ball for the damage.
‘The umpires felt the condition of the ball changed, making me feel we were responsible as a team,’ he said. ‘Nothing happened. I honestly told the umpires we had nothing to do with the condition of the ball, except that [Keshav] Maharaj had bowled five overs on the trot from that end, and the ball generally scuffs up when the spinner bowls.’
Asked if he felt the umpires were accusing his side of tampering, De Villiers replied: ‘Yes, I did feel that. I expressed that I was quite upset about it.
‘I felt it was a bad ball. That happens sometimes — the leather comes off. Unfortunately, the umpires didn’t agree with that. Generally there’s a warning or a fine, but nothing happened and that tells me they realised we were innocent in this case.’
Law 42.3 says a change must be made ‘if the umpires together agree that the deterioration in the condition of the ball is greater than is consistent with the use it has received’.
For a while, it was unclear why the umpires had raised the state of the ball without taking further action. But they needed evidence of skulduggery, and evidently had none.
England captain Eoin Morgan said that the LED advertising hoardings can cause the ball to scuff up.
South Africa’s sensitivity is understandable. Back in November, Faf du Plessis was fined his match fee after using mint-enhanceded saliva to shine the ball during a Test against Australia. And in 2013, he pleaded guilty to rubbing the ball against the zip of his trouser pocket during a Test against Pakistan, and was fined 50 per cent of his fee.