JOHANNESBURG (Reuters)
Embattled match referee Mike Denness won new backing on Wednesday over the Sachin Tendulkar ball-tampering row which has threatened to throw India's tour to South Africa into chaos.

Denis Lindsay, former South African Test player and an International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee, told Reuters that he held Denness in high regard and that he did not expect him to be sacked.

Indian Cricket Board of Control chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya has called for Denness to be removed after he found Tendulkar guilty of doctoring the ball in the drawn second Test in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.

Tendulkar was given a suspended one-match ban and fined while Denness also sanctioned five other Indian players, including captain Sourav Ganguly, for bringing the game into disrepute through excessive appealing.

Dalmiya's tough line raised concerns over the third and final Test, due to start on Friday in Centurion. Lindsay said: "I personally don't think Mike (Denness) will be replaced.

"Unless there was a breach of protocol I can't see them removing Mike and I wouldn't like to comment on that as I was not involved in the match. He (Denness) would have followed the whole situation and he is very experienced so it would be out of place for me to make a judgement."

Dalmiya, himself a former head of the ICC, said India wanted Denness removed or his bans reviewed. The censuring of Tendulkar in particular has caused outrage in India, where he is revered.

But the sport's world governing body, which is expected to make a statement later on Wednesday, seems unlikely to buckle, especially after deciding last month at its executive board meeting in Kuala Lumpur to enforce tougher penalties for one-field discipline.

Dalmiya had said that India would even accept a South African match referee for the final Test if a neutral referee was not available. But Lindsay said: "It is against ICC policy to have a match referee from the host country so I don't see them appointing me or any other South African."

Pressed over whether he would accept the role if asked due to the unusual circumstances, he said: "I will only make a decision if and when the ICC ask me."

Ironically, Lindsay will be the match referee for the upcoming Test series between India and England in India. "I don't think this situation will put more pressure on me in India," Lindsay added. "Every game is a new game and it will be a fresh start when we are there."

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