Cricket Australia thinking about reducing bans of the trio: CA pondering over reducing bans of Smith, Warner and Bancroft.
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The sea-saw battle between the decision of letting the banned trio of Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft make a comeback into the game before the scheduled time continues as Cricket Australia is now considering option through which the respective bans can be reduced.
The intriguing aspect about the reduction in the bans is that if that happens, whether the players will only be allowed to play the Sheffield Shield or the KFC Big Bash League or will also be allowed to take part in the imminent tour of India, which commences on November 21.
Other than letting them play, there are also apprehensions about whether the duo will be handed back the captaincy roles or not. Before being banned, Smith was leading the team while Warner was serving as his deputy. While Smith is currently not allowed to captain Australia till 2020, Warner was barred off the same for life.
If the duo is allowed to return to the same roles, it will undoubtedly be a massive turnaround on the part of Cricket Australia.
Since the release of the Cultural Review, news of reduction of the bans have been doing the rounds without much confirmation. Apparently, it is the Australian Cricketers’ Association which is adamant on the players returning to competitive cricket ‘immediately’.
If reports are to be believed, Cricket Australia is expected to consider all the possible options in the next 48 hours or so.
If the trio is allowed to take part in the BBL (starting on December 18), it might be unfair on Bancroft as his ban is scheduled to end on December 28. While he would have served his full ban, the others in Smith and Warner would have had a three-month reduction each.
The development has not gone well with some of the fans and former cricketers for they believe that since the trio decided not to contest the bans, they accepted that they were guilt and hence reducing or removing the bans now would be like shying away from your stance.
Former Australian speedster Mitchell Johnson took to social media platform Twitter to express his opinion about the same. In his tweet, Johnson laid emphasis on the fact that the ‘bans should stay’. Read his tweet below:
Read some of the other Twitter reactions on the same below:
