South Africa judge to hear Ganguly appeal

A South African judge, Justice Albie Sachs, has been appointed to hear a dispute over a six-match ban that was imposed by the International Cricket Council on India's captain, Sourav Ganguly.

Justice Sachs will be the sole member of an ICC disputes resolution committee, which has been instigated as a result of the ban imposed on Ganguly by the match referee, Chris Broad, during the one-day series against Pakistan in April.

Ganguly was penalised for persistently slow over-rates, a decision that was upheld by the ICC's appeals commissioner, Michael Beloff. But the Indian board has asked the ICC for arbitration, citing flaws in the process by which the charge and the appeal were heard.

Ganguly, who sat out the last two games of that Pakistan series, will have to miss four matches of a tri-series against West Indies and Sri Lanka starting on July 30, if the ban is not overturned.

He incurred the ban after his team took 30 extra minutes to bowl the stipulated 50 overs in two successive games. In November last year, Ganguly was banned for two Tests for a similar offence, but his appeal against match referee Clive Lloyd's decision was upheld by another ICC commissioner, Tim Castle.

Justice Sachs would decide on the format and timeframe for the hearing and, according to the ICC statement, his decision would be final.