South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis has sought clarification from the International Cricket Council [ICC] over ball-tampering rules. Although the governing body of the sport has approved stricter punishments for tampering with the ball, it doesn’t have any guideline that lays out the dos and don’ts regarding ball-tampering involving saliva and other substances.

Du Plessis has twice been penalized for changing the condition of the ball. He said he would meet the umpires before the game to clear up his confusion.

“The ICC has made the penalties a lot more strict, but they still haven’t said what is allowed and what isn’t allowed. Is chewing gum allowed? Is it not? Are you allowed mints in your mouth?

“As Hashim Amla said, he likes putting sweets in his mouth when he spends a long time in the field, so there’s nothing wrong with it,” du Plessis reportedly said.

“For me, I need clarity still. I’m looking forward to speaking to the umpires before the game to make sure there’s clarity. I’m sure that Dinesh [Chandimal] would as well.

“So what we do with the ball now – as we’ve seen with Australia – things like that, the penalties are going to be much harsher. We expect that we will see less of that in the game,” he added.

Du Plessis’ words were echoed by Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal, who received a one-Test ban last month for tampering with the ball. He could miss a few matches in the upcoming series between Sri Lanka and South Africa after pleading guilty to a Level 3 offence of contrary conduct.

“We will meet with umpires and the (ICC) match referee and ask what we can carry with us to the field. What sweets we can put in our mouths and when,” Chandimal said.

“In the Abu Dhabi Test last year, the heat was more than 45 degrees, and I got 164 runs there. After 120 runs, I had batted for more than a day, so at that time I had felt faint, so the physio came on and it was sweets that helped me to score the remainder of my runs. So at that kind of time, if we take things with sugar, it helps our energy levels.”

Ball-tampering has been upgraded from a Level 2 offence to a Level 3 following the unfathomable turn of events during Australia’s tour of South Africa in March.