Rabada test ban appeal to be heard on Monday
Kagiso Rabada’s appeal against his two match Test ban will be heard on Monday, the International Cricket Council announced on Friday.
A senior New Zealand lawyer, Michael Heron QC, has been appointed the Judicial Commissioner and will conduct the hearing by teleconference.
Heron will have 48 hours to reach a decision – which means Rabada’s case will be finalised ahead of the third Test against Australia, which starts at Newlands on Thursday.
The South African fast bowler was found guilty of a level two offence for making shoulder contact with Australian captain Steve Smith in the second Test in Port Elizabeth. ICC match referee, former New Zealand captain Jeff Crowe, ruled that Rabada had made "inappropriate and deliberate" contact with Smith.
The offence carried a penalty of three demerit points and a fine of 50 percent of Rabada’s match fee. It took Rabada to a total of eight demerit points, triggering an automatic two-Test ban, ruling him out of the two remaining Tests of a series which is tied at 1-1.
Rabada, who was man of the match in the second Test and rose to number one in the ICC Test bowling rankings, will be represented by Dali Mpofu, a prominent South African senior counsel.
Although Cricket South Africa has said it will make no further comment on the case, Mpofu is likely to try either to have the ruling reversed, or to get it reduced to a level one offence, which only carries one demerit point, which would keep Rabada below the threshold for a ban.