Steve Smith says won’t challenge Cricket Australia sanctions, will serve ban
Wednesday, April 4, 2018 IST
Steve Smith, who was removed as captain of the Australian cricket team and handed a one-year ban along with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft for partaking in the ball-tampering scandal, said he won’t challenge Cricket Australia’s sanctions.
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Steve Smith, the disgraced former Australian cricket team skipper who was handed a one-year ban for his part in the ball-tampering row, said he won’t challenge the sanctions handed down by Cricket Australia.
Steve Smith was deemed to have had knowledge of a plan to alter the condition of the ball, which David Warner – the then vice-captain – is alleged to have developed and instructed Cameron Bancroft to carry out with sandpaper, and failing to prevent its implementation.
“I would give anything to have this behind me and be back representing my country. But I meant what I said about taking full responsibility as Captain of the team. I won’t be challenging the sanctions. They’ve been imposed by CA to send a strong message and I have accepted them,” Smith tweeted on Wednesday.
While Steve Smith and David Warner were handed one-year bans by Cricket Australia, Cameron Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban. Smith was also removed from his position as Australia captain.
Smith and Warner were later handed one-year bans from the Indian Premier League (IPL). Smith was set to captain Rajasthan Royals whilst Warner had previously led Sunrisers Hyderabad to an IPL title win in 2016.
Head coach Darren Lehmann also stepped down following the fourth Test, which South Africa won to seal a 3-1 series win, despite CA finding that neither he nor any other member of Australia’s touring party had any awareness of the plan.
Upon his arrival back in his home country, Smith broke down in tears at a media conference after shouldering the blame for the scandal that drew widespread criticism in Australia, with prime minister Malcolm Turnbull among those to condemn the incident.
However, Australian Cricketers’ Association president Greg Dyer stated that he believed the sanctions to be too severe and called on CA to consider downgrading their sanctions.
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