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Cape Town - Proteas captain Faf du Plessis remains unclear on the International Cricket Council's (ICC) stance on ball-tampering.
With both South Africa and Sri Lanka having been involved in tampering sagas the last time they played Test cricket, the issue is in the spotlight ahead of this month's two-Test series between the sides on the sub-continent.
Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal was found guilty of tampering in the recently-completed Test series against West Indies, while South Africa were innocent bystanders as Australia got caught red-handed at Newlands earlier this year.
Du Plessis himself is no stranger to controversy, having been involved in two incidents himself with the most recent being the 'Mintgate' saga of 2016 on his side's tour to South Africa.
Since all of that, the ICC has intesnified their punishment for ball-tampering offences, but Du Plessis says he remains unclear of exactly what is allowed and what is not.
"I think it's important to say that I'm not clear yet on that matter," he said on Friday.
"The ICC obviously made the penalties a lot stricter, but they still haven't said what is allowed and what isn't. Is chewing gum allowed, is it not. Are you allowed to have mints in your mouth?
"As Hashim Amla said, he likes to have sweets in his mouth and he spends a long time in the field. There is nothing wrong with that.
"I need clarity still and I'm looking forward to speaking to the umpires before the game to make sure that we can get clarity on the matter."
The first Test gets underway in Galle on July 12, and Du Plessis expects the new harsher laws to prevent tampering in the future.
"We know now the penalties are much harsher ... so I would expect that would see less of that in the game," he said.
"The penalties that are there now are going to make him think twice because you're going to miss a lot of cricket if you do that.
"As a captain of any team you want consistency through all teams and you want clarity."
