Australian captain Steve Smith suspended and fined for key role in cheating scandal
UNDER-SIEGE Australian captain Steve Smith has felt the wrath of the game’s governing body with the International Cricket Council handing down a swift punishment for his role in the cheating scandal.
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UPDATE: Steve Smith has been suspended from the fourth Test and fined 100 per cent of his match fee just hours after he stood down as Australian captain for his role in the ball tampering scandal.
Cameron Bancroft, who was caught with by television cameras attempting to alter the condition of the ball is free to play after receiving a three demerit point penalty - one below the threshold for the ban.
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson laid the charge against Smith under to Article 2.2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel which relates ‘all types of conduct of a serious nature that is contrary to the spirit of the game’.
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Smith was charged after admitting to being behind the plot to tamper with the ball and has accepted his sanction.
Smith has been handed a one-match ban.
“The decision made by the leadership group of the Australian team to act in this way is clearly contrary to the spirit of the game, risks causing significant damage to the integrity of the match, the players and the sport itself and is therefore ‘serious’ in nature,” Richardson said.
“As captain, Steve Smith must take full responsibility for the actions of his players and it is appropriate that he be suspended.
“The game needs to have a hard look at itself. In recent weeks we have seen incidents of ugly sledging, send-offs, dissent against umpires’ decisions, a walk-off, ball tampering and some ordinary off-field behaviour.
LISTEN: A Special Ball Tampering Crisis Episode is out with Russell Gould and Andrew Menczel going through all the fall out from the continuing ball tampering scandal engulfing the Australian Cricket Team.
“The ICC needs to do more to prevent poor behaviour and better police the spirit of the game, defining more clearly what is expected of players and enforcing the regulations in a consistent fashion. In addition and most importantly Member countries need to show more accountability for their teams’ conduct. Winning is important but not at the expense of the spirit of the game which is intrinsic and precious to the sport of cricket. We have to raise the bar across all areas.”
Bancroft admitted his breach and there was no formal hearing before match referee Andy Pycroft.
The ICC explained that the umpires did not replace the ball because they could not see “any marks on the ball that suggested that it’s condition had been changed as a direct result of Bancroft’s actions”.
“To carry a foreign object on to the field of play with the intention of changing the condition of the ball to gain an unfair advantage over your opponent is against not only the Laws, but the Spirit of the game as well,” Pycroft said.
“That said, I acknowledge that Cameron has accepted responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty to the charge and apologising publicly. As a young player starting out in international cricket, I hope the lessons learned from this episode will strongly influence the way he plays the game during the rest of his career.”
Earlier, Smith and vice-captain Dave Warner made the decision to stand down after a fiery Sunday of condemnation and conversations with Cricket Australia senior officials.
And both could be dumped full-time as soon as Tuesday after CA launched an investigation in the ball-tampering incident which even rocked the Prime Minister.
Reports have also emerged that Smith has lost his $2.4 million Indian Premier League contract with the Rajasthan Royals who Smith was set to captain in April.
Having failed to talk to Smith in the immediate aftermath of the revelations, CA boss James Sutherland reached out to the captain and it was decided both he and Warner should stand down in the interests of the game.
Wicket keeper Tim Paine was elevated to the top job while Smith and Warner were forced to take the field in Cape Town and play out the third Test.
Before play started, Shane Warne described the events of the last 24 hours as “un-Australian.”
“I think there’s a lot of anger at the moment,” Warne said.
“Forget the ball tampering issue, the bottom line for me is the captain sat there and took a decision to go out there and cheat.
“The hardest thing for me to accept is the captain went out there to get an unfair advantage against the laws of the game.
“And at the end of the day he has to live with that for the rest of his life.”
On a disastrous day for Australian cricket former players called for Smith to be axed after he admitted ordering teammate Cameron Bancroft to tamper with the ball during day three of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
Malcolm Turnbull described the events as “a shocking disappointment” and made his position clear in a call to CA chairman David Peever that decisive action was needed.
“How can our team be engaged in treating (cricket) like this? It beggars belief,” Mr Turnbull said.
“It’s wrong and I look forward to Cricket Australia taking decisive action soon.”
Distraught CA boss James Sutherland called it a “sad day for cricket” but said Smith would stay captain “for now” and continue to lead the Aussies in South Africa with two days of the third Test to go.
He dispatched CA’s head of integrity Iain Roy and high performance manager Pat Howard to South Africa to investigate the actions of the Australian skipper and the team leadership, including coach Darren Lehmann.
Despite overwhelming video evidence catching Bancroft with a yellow piece of tape in his hand, which he used to pick up debris from the pitch and then rub on the ball, plus Smith’s admission he came up with the plan, Sutherland refused to impose immediate sanctions, which was within his power.
Sutherland contacted Australian team manager Gavin Dovey in Cape Town after he was made aware of the incident early on Sunday morning.
But he didn’t speak to either Smith or Lehmann. Board members were kept informed of what was happening, but no emergency meetings were called to address the situation.
Instead Sutherland, amid a public outcry for Smith to be sacked and similar calls from former players including Adam Gilchrist and Simon Katich, said CA would not move until the investigation is complete.
That should be done as soon as Tuesday morning, after which Sutherland and the board can act.
“Australian cricket fans want to be proud of their cricket team, and I think this morning they have every reason to wake up and not be proud of the team. It’s a very sad day for Australian cricket;” Sutherland said on Sunday.
“We are extremely disappointed and shocked at what we woke up to this morning, and we are dealing with this issue with the utmost urgency and seriousness.
“We need someone to go over there and talk to the relevant people involved to understand what happened and the detail, and then we’ll make appropriate decisions as to next step.”
“I’m not happy about this at all.”
Originally published as Australian captain Steve Smith suspended and fined for key role in cheating scandal
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