Philander claims tweet furore was 'hackers'

Proteas quick Vernon Philander has claimed he was the victim of a Twitter hacker after an inflammatory social media post late on Wednesday evening in South Africa. 

Shortly before midnight South Africa time, Philander's account sensationally accused Australia captain Steve Smith of instigating the contact that saw Proteas quick Kagiso Rabada banned for two Tests. 

Rabada made contact with Smith after the batsman was dismissed in the first innings of the Port Elizabeth Test that South Africa won to level the series. 

Philander's original tweet claimed Smith "gave KG the shoulder" and "could have avoided any contact". 

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"Too me (Smith) is just as guilty," Philander's tweet said. 

On Thursday morning in South Africa, Philander awoke to find the offending tweet had caused headlines around the cricket world, and he was quick to claim on the same platform he had been the victim of hackers. 

"Waking up this morning to alot of twitter craziness as my acc got hacked and someone posted a nice little article on my behalf," Philander wrote.

"Sorry for all the drama or entertainment caused by the looks of it. Have a great day all."

Rabada was charged by the ICC match referee Jeff Crowe with a Level 2 breach of the game's Code of Conduct and subsequently handed three demerit points and a fine.

Those points took him to the eight-point threshold to trigger an automatic two-Test ban.

Cricket South Africa have appealed that ruling, while fellow Protea Philander took to social media late on Wednesday evening (South Africa time) to make his feelings clear. 

In a tweet that included a slow-motion replay of the contact between the pair, Philander wrote: "Havent really seen the footage of this incident but by the looks of this ... Steve Smith gave KG the shoulder. 

"He could have avoided any contact but to me he is just as guilty. 

"Trying some football skills to get a penalty??? Pity he didnt dive to top it off."

Asked by a South African journalist if he had "taken a dive" in the wake of the second Test, Smith was unequivocal: "I certainly don’t think I baited Kagiso in any way. That's how I felt anyway."

Former South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock added a rare voice of reason from the Rainbow Nation, saying Rabada's history made the ban warranted. 

"It's the accumulation of points, it’s not an isolated event," Pollock told Wide World of Sports.

"If it was a two-match suspension for an isolated event you would argue it wasn’t warranted, but when you look back and see he’s got points that have been accumulated then you can understand."

The ICC now has 48 hours to appoint a Judicial Commissioner and once that appointment has been made a hearing will be held within seven days. 

Rabada will remain suspended for the Cape Town Test, which starts next Thursday, unless the appointed Judicial Commissioner can find a satisfactory reason to allow the 22-year-old to play.

The paceman admitted after play on Monday he's let his team down for his brush Smith on day one of the second Test after taking the touring captain's wicket.

But the fiery quick says he will not change the way he expresses himself on the field despite being fined 65 per cent of his match fee and handed four demerit points for two separate incidents at St George's Park. 

Rabada was named player of the match in PE, but unfortunately most of the focus on the boom speedster was about his actions without a ball in his hands. 

"I've let myself and the team down," Rabada told reporters after play on Monday. 

"But I have to move forward and I have to see, if I do get banned, then I have to see it as a big learning curve and not repeat the same mistake, because I've 'repeated' the same mistake in the eyes of the umpires. 

"I'm not happy about it."

Qantas tour of South Africa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match: Australia beat South Africa A by five wickets. Report, highlights

First Test Australia won by 118 runs. Scorecard

Second Test South Africa won by six wickets. Scorecard

Third Test Newlands, Cape Town, March 22-26. Live coverage

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3. Live coverage