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South Africa consider the ball-tampering allegations against Faf du Plessis to be ridiculous, and a joke, and believe their stand-in captain has done absolutely nothing wrong. That was the message from the teams senior-most batsman Hashim Amla, who addressed the media at the MCG on Friday afternoon, accompanied by the entire South African squad and support staff, who were present to show solidarity.Du Plessis was among the group but stood in the background and was not put up to answer any questions. Instead Amla, the designated player for Fridays media opportunity, began in the unusual fashion of delivering a mini-speech to open proceedings.Good afternoon everybody. As you can see we have the full team here behind us, Amla said. The reason everybody is here is to stand together and to show solidarity to what has been something we actually thought was a joke. Its not April. But the allegations against Faf were really, for us, a ridiculous thing and as a team we are standing strong. For us it is basically a joke. The boys are here, standing strong.At the time, Amla was not aware that the ICC was reviewing footage of du Plessis shining the ball after licking his fingers when there appeared to be a sweet in his mouth. Is it?, Amla asked when told about the governing bodys investigation. Whether it is or not, weve done nothing wrong and Faf has done absolutely nothing wrong.Part of South Africas defence is that players often have something in their mouths on the field, Amla included. I chew bubblegum while I am fielding. Do you want me to brush my teeth after lunch every time I come out? he said. Youve got to be logical about this, common sense surely should prevail. If Ive got something in my mouth, guys are handing out red froggies at lunch time to give the kids, keep them hydrated, energise them and we are in the field for two hours. We eat nuts, biltong, that sort of thing. There was no malicious intent.Amla said he was unaware that sugary sweets have been used to shine one side of the ball in order to get reverse swing, as Marcus Trescothick wrote in his autobiography. Is that a tactic? Amla asked. Is it proven or what? Thats something thats new to us. Ive had sweets in my mouth, bubblegum in my mouth, biltong, nuts, Im not sure what the big deal is. Are you sure it (an advantage) can be gained? We dont know. I can only speak for what my captain has done.Amla went as far as to say the reaction to the footage could be an attempted to discredit South Africas dominance in the series. To me and to a lot of people, it is sounding like sour sweets for people in their heads that weve played really good cricket and the timing of it is that its a bit weird too, he said.The visuals emerged the day after the Hobart Test, which South Africa won by an innings and 80 runs to take the series 2-0. Du Plessis had not been reported by the match officials and the ICC were only alerted to the alleged tampering through media reports and then chose to review it of their own volition.Amla maintained that the entire South African camp were convinced of du Plessis innocence. I am just trying to clear what we think is an absolutely wrongful allegation made on our captain. We are standing in solidarity to our captain who has done absolutely nothing wrong. Its pretty clear what we are trying to do you here. As I said, weve done nothing wrong. If there was any doubt whatsoever, you wouldnt have the full team here. Weve just basically done nothing wrong.Less than two hours after Amla spoke, du Plessis was formally charged and pleaded not guilty. South Africa are awaiting legal counsel before a date for the hearing can be decided so it is uncertain whether it will take place before the Adelaide Test next Thursday. 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Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup.The ECB has announced final squads for the inaugural North v South series next March, with Mark Wood, Steven Finn and James Vince among those given opportunities to press their claims for England selection in the three 50-over matches.Wood is currently working back to fitness after a third ankle operation in the space of 12 months, having briefly impressed in an England shirt during the ODI series with Pakistan at the end of the summer. His ability to operate at 90mph could make him a key weapon when England challenge for the Champions Trophy next June.Paul Farbrace, Englands assistant coach, said they were hopeful Wood could also be fit for the ODI tour to West Indies in February.There is a chance he may make the West Indies squad, Farbrace said. But for someone like Finny, who has missed out on his place in one-day cricket in recent series, its a great opportunity for him to show what he can do and get himself into the one-day side. Theres others - [Dawid] Malan, [Sam] Northeast, people who have been very successful in county cricket who perhaps havent had the opportunity, this is a great chance for them.Vince played all three ODIs on the recent tour of Bangladesh but was dropped from the squad to tour India next month, while Finns last limited-overs appearance came in 2015. Vince will captain the South XI and Keaton Jennings will lead the North. Four members of each squad have already been selected via the Professional Cricketers Associations MVP ranking system.Jennings and Ben Duckett, who both made senior England debuts this winter, are joined by Liam Dawson, Tim Bresnan and Harry Gurney as the other capped players involved. Two young legspinners, in Mason Crane and Josh Poysden, have also been included in the 13-man squads.For all the players selected, the North versus South series is a platform to make an impression, Englands national selector, James Whitaker, said. As Andrew Strauss said when he introduced the series before the start of the 2016 season, we see it as an important addition to our selection process in 50-over cricket, ahead of the two major global events we are staging over the next three summers - the Champions Trophy next year and the World Cup in 2019.With the calibre of the squads we have selected, we are confident there will be an intense and high-quality level of competition that allows us to assess players who are currently just outside the England squad, and their ability to perform at that highher level.ddddddddddddFarbrace will coach the South side while Englands bowling coach, Ottis Gibson, will take charge of the North. Both were involved in selection, while Trevor Bayliss, Englands head coach, will attend the matches.The key thing is to give people outside of the current one-day set-up the opportunity to place for England, Farbrace said. With an eye on the 2019 World Cup in England, were trying to make sure that white-ball cricket has the same importance as red-ball cricket. Its a brilliant opportunity for players in county cricket who otherwise wouldnt have been selected.What were saying is, the Lions is one route and county cricket is certainly another route. When people come through the Lions, you know theyve come through a grounding between county cricket and international cricket, but also there are people capable of coming directly from county cricket. There are some very good county players... So you want the routes to be varied, not just one line into the England team.Eight members of the Lions squad announced earlier this week for the one-day series against Sri Lanka A in March have been included - Jennings, Joe Clarke, Liam Livingstone, Poysden, Tom Alsop, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Ben Foakes and Tom Curran - while a number of promising players outside the performance programmes, such as Sam Hain, Jack Leaning and Richard Gleeson have also earned call-ups.The squads will gather in Dubai ahead of warm-up matches on March 15. The three-match North v South series will then take place in Dubai, on March 17 and 19, and Abu Dhabi, on March 21.North squad: Keaton Jennings (Durham, capt), Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire*), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Joe Clarke (Worcestershire), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Jack Leaning (Yorkshire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire*), Josh Poysden (Warwickshire), Graeme White (Northamptonshire*), Mark Wood (Durham), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Richard Gleeson (Northamptonshire), Harry Gurney (Nottinghamshire*)South squad: James Vince (Hampshire, capt), Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent), Tom Alsop (Hampshire), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Sam Northeast (Kent), Liam Dawson (Hampshire*), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Lewis Gregory (Somerset*), Tim Groenewald (Somerset*), Matt Coles (Kent*), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Mason Crane (Hampshire)*PCA MVP rankings selection ' ' '