South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis believes the International Cricket Council has no other option but to introduce harsher penalties for ball tampering, an illegal act he has twice been found guilty of.
The ICC's annual conference will wrap up soon in Dublin, where cricket bigwigs from around the world have been discussing various issues.
That list includes tampering, thrust into the spotlight by Australia earlier this year and again when Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal was recently found guilty of illegally altering the condition of the ball.
Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft copped long bans for their roles in the Cape Town cheating scandal, but those punishments came from Cricket Australia (CA).
Chandimal was slapped with a one-Test ban by the ICC.
The ICC's influential cricket committee, chaired by former India captain Anil Kumble, recommended earlier this year that there should be harsher sanctions and better policing of tampering.
The ICC board is expected to rubber stamp new penalties soon. Chief executive David Richardson has already floated the prospect of tampering attracting a minimum suspension of four Tests.
Du Plessis, speaking before his side flew out to face Chandimal's team in Sri Lanka, was forthright when asked whether the ICC should change how it punishes tampering.
"They have to. It's happening too often. They definitely need to do that as quickly as possible," du Plessis told reporters in Cape Town.
"It doesn't look like anything has changed.
"It's still the same rules and stuff, so they need to change that. The penalties needs to be harsher for ball tampering."
Du Plessis admitted earlier this year he harboured suspicions about how Australia gained so much early reverse-swing throughout the Test series in South Africa - not just when Bancroft scuffed the ball with sandpaper at Newlands.
CA, having conducted a thorough investigation, insisted it was a one-off case of tampering.
Du Plessis was fined 50 per cent of his match fee during a Test in 2013, having rubbed the ball on the zipper of his pants pocket.
Three years later, du Plessis again escaped with a fine when he unsuccessfully attempted to overturn the tampering charge resulting from 'mintgate' in Hobart.
"I was shining the ball. It's something that all cricketers do. Our mouths are always full of sugar, I think it's such a grey area in the laws of cricket," he said at the time.
Du Plessis reiterated his call for clarity and consistency prior to flying out for Sri Lanka.
"There are too many grey areas when it comes to the ICC and the rules," he said.
"A lot of captains that have been speaking about it for a lot of years."
Australian Associated Press
