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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. If found guilty, du Plessis could face a suspension of one Test. Adidas Superstar Cheap China .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Adidas Superstar Wholesale China . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. http://www.cheapsuperstar.net/ . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Adidas Superstars Clearance . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. Adidas Superstars Sale Cheap . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. CLEVELAND -- Kyrie Irving had a big game. LeBron James returned to the court. And the Cleveland Cavaliers put it all together Friday night.Irving scored 25 points and James, returning to the lineup after sitting out a game, added 21 to help the Cavaliers rolled past the Detroit Pistons 104-81.Offensively and defensively it was the best weve played all year, as far as close to 48 minutes, said James, who rested Wednesday night in a loss at Indiana.James, made 9 of 14 shots and played only 28 minutes. Irving was 11 of 15 from the field with 11 assists -- one short of his career high -- in 29 minutes.Following a slow start that saw Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue call a timeout less than 2 minutes into the game after the Pistons hit a pair of wide-open 3-pointers.Lue only smiled when asked for specifics about what he told the players, but he was clearly unhappy.He didnt like our effort to start the game, James said. We got the message and we were able to change it around.He didnt need to tell us much, Irving said. We all understood.Cleveland led by 11 at the end of the first quarter, took a 56-39 lead into halftime and continued to dominate. The Cavaliers built the lead to 33 points in the fourth quarter, allowing Lue to rest his starters for the entire final period. The defending NBA champions dont play again until Wednesday night.J.R. Smith, who returned after missing three games with a sprained right ankle, hit three 3-pointers and moved past the Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki into 15th place on the NBAs career list for 3s.Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy, who was unhappy with his teams defense and rebounding in Wednesdays loss to New York, benched his starters for the fourth quarter.There is no takeaway from tonight, we got crushed, Van Gundyy said.dddddddddddd We were just awful.Cleveland was 11 of 25 on 3-pointers and has reached double figures in all 12 games, an NBA record to start the season.Kevin Love scored 12 points and had 14 rebounds, and Tristan Thompson also had 14 rebounds.Lues early timeout paid off when Smith hit three 3-pointers, and James and Tristan Thompson scored on dunks.Jon Leuer led Detroit with 15 points. The Pistons starting five of Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris, Andre Drummond, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith combined for only 37 points.Their guys all played really, really hard, Van Gundy said. We need to find people that play that hard.TIP-INSPistons: Harris was hit with a technical foul in the second quarter. ... Van Gundy plans on sticking with a nine-man rotation until his team is at full strength. G Reggie Jackson is still rehabbing from surgery on his left knee and hasnt played this season.Cavaliers: James had three assists and is four away from passing Guy Rodgers for 17th on the career list. .... Cleveland blocked eight shots, including four by Thompson. .... G Mike Dunleavy, who didnt play against Indiana, entered the game in the second quarter. He scored five points.TAKE A BREAKThe Cavaliers wont practice the next two days, which will provide a much-welcome rest.I cant remember when I had it like this in a season, James said. Were going to take full advantage of it.Its very important for our team, Lue said. Guys should feel refreshed and healthy.UP NEXTPistons: Host Celtics on Saturday night. Detroit is 5-0 at The Palace of Auburn Hills this season.Cavaliers: Host Trail Blazers on Wednesday night. ' ' '