SA come out in support of Indian board

South Africa's cricket board are "extremely sympathetic" to the stance taken by its Indian counterparts over the controversy surrounding match referee Mike Denness.

Former England captain Denness sanctioned six of India's players, including Sachin Tendulkar, on Tuesday in the drawn second test in Port Elizabeth.

United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) chief executive Gerald Majola said: "The UCBSA is extremely sympathetic to the position of the Indian board and their team on the harshness of the match referee's decisions."

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya wanted the International Cricket Council (ICC) to replace Denness as match referee for the third and final test, or to have his decisions suspended until they were examined by the ICC.

"We have expressed (our views) to Mr Dalmiya several times over the past few days, as well as supporting his request to the ICC," Majola said in a statement on Wednesday.

The BCCI have threatened to call the tour off and return home if a satisfactory solution to the match referee problem cannot be found.

Majola said the ICC needed to review its code of conduct to include an appeals procedure.

"The UCB urges the governing body of world cricket to make amendments to the code of conduct to make provisions for a process of appeal in regard to all disciplinary hearings," Majola was quoted as saying.

"The disciplinary procedures with regard to cricket matches are one of the few instances in world sport in which there is no recourse to appeal for affected players or officials."

Denness found Tendulkar guilty of doctoring the ball in the drawn second test and handed him a suspended one-match ban and fine.

Denness also sanctioned five other Indian players, including captain Saurav Ganguly, for bringing the game into disrepute through excessive appealing in the second test.

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