Emily Smith returns from controversial Cricket Australia ban
Three months after being hit with a potential career-ending ban for a prank gone wrong, WBBL star Emily Smith will return to the field after serving her controversial Cricket Australia ban.
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Emily Smith, the young woman banished by Cricket Australia over an Instagram prank, will make her quiet return from an anti-corruption ban this weekend in Melbourne.
The Hobart Hurricanes wicketkeeper was controversially suspended from all levels of the game for three months at the start of the summer over an innocent joke she made on social media.
Cricket Australia acknowledged her actions were in no way linked to corruption, but despite lobbying from Shane Watson and the players’ association to have the heavy ban reduced due to mitigating circumstances, administrators stood by the game’s strict code of conduct protocols.
Smith was left devastated by the potential impact of the much publicised suspension on her career as a fringe member of the Hurricanes squad, and as it stands she does not have a contract for next summer’s WBBL season.
But after a highly stressful three months, she is at last free to return to playing the game she loves.
Smith is expected to turn out for her club side Essendon-Maribyrnong Park on Saturday at Aberfeldie Park in a 50-over match against Prahran.
It’s the first step towards hopefully winning a new WBBL contract and rebuilding her career.
The 25-year-old has received overwhelming support from current and ex-players and has tried to make that her focus during a trying period where she has also fretted about what implications an anti-corruption ban could have on her post-playing ambitions.
“Extremely overwhelmed by the love and support I’ve received from my friends, family, teammates, the opposition, the (ACA) and everyone in between over the last couple of weeks,” Smith posted on social media in the weeks after her ban.
“I’m incredibly lucky to have great people around me.”
Extremely overwhelmed by the love & support I’ve received from my friends, family, teammates, the opposition, the @ACA_Players and everyone in between over the last couple of weeks. I’m incredibly lucky to have great people around me. https://t.co/hJ5aVDdSZH
— Emily Smith (@emsmit33) November 27, 2019
Former women’s cricket greats like Isa Guha have been damning on Cricket Australia for being too heavy handed.
Guha said the punishment didn’t fit the crime and felt CA targeted Smith as someone who “wouldn’t necessarily fight back.”
Smith has spent the past month working as an intern at the Australian Cricketers Association, after they offered a position to keep her involved in the game during her ban.
Cricket Australia has maintained that Smith had ample opportunity to appeal her ban when it first handed out, but after it was accepted, there is nothing that can change a code of conduct finding.