Faf du Plessis' appeal to be heard by ICC on December 19

This means that he could miss the first test against Sri Lanka.

It's been reported that the International Cricket Council(ICC) will hear his appeal on December 19.

The ICC will hear his appeal at their headquarters in Dubai and Michael Beloff will be present as the Judicial Commissioner.

The hearing will take place in ICC's headquarters here. Legal counsel for both the ICC and Cricket South Africa will attend the hearing. Du Plessis will join the hearing via a telephone link, an ICC statement said.

"The ICC will publish the result of the hearing through its usual channels and will not be making any further comment until that time," the ICC said.

du Plessis was found guilty of breaching the ICC's code of conduct for "applying an artificial substance on the ball" in November.

In the second test of the 3 match Test series against Australia, Du Plessis was caught on camera putting saliva on the ball's surface while sucking on a sweet.

Although an appeal was made against him, he was cleared to play the third test match. In wake of the incident he was fined his entire match fees from the second test, but he avoided the ban.

South Africa won the series 2-1.