Smith, Warner & Bancroft bans to stay

Smith, Warner & Bancroft bans to stay: A final decision on the banned Australian trio has been made by Cricket Australia.

In which has come as a major development for not just the Australian team but the cricketing fraternity, as a whole, is that banned Australian cricketers in Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft will continue to serve their bans without any reduction in them.

As recent as yesterday, reports of Cricket Australia considering to reduce the bans were doing the rounds. A final decision such as this has quashed all reports now.

As a result, Smith and Warner will not be seen playing international cricket till the end of March next year. On the other hand, Bancroft will be eligible to play post December this year. With India’s tour of Australia set to begin tomorrow, participation of this trio upon the removal of their bans could have made an impact on the overall result.

Smith and Warner could be seen playing for Australia in the ODI series against Pakistan, which has been reportedly postponed from March to April to accommodate the Australian duo.

The members of Cricket Australia met over a video link to land on this eventual decision. Earl Eddings, the interim chairman of CA, was of the opinion that constant efforts to alter or reduce the bans from the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) and people, were placing ‘undue pressure’ on both the banned players and the Australian team as a whole. With the team not doing well this year, it being incomplete without Smith and Warner was the last thing that the current players would have wanted to hear.

“We believe the ongoing conversation about reducing the sanctions puts undue pressure on the three players – all of whom accepted the sanctions earlier this year – and the Australian men’s cricket team. As such, the Cricket Australia Board doesn’t intend to consider further calls for amendments to the sanctions,” Eddings was quoted.

He further went on to the thank the ACA, acknowledging the fact that the decision will ‘disappoint’ them. “Though we recognise that this decision will be disappointing for the ACA, we thank them for their submission. Our commitment to continue building a strong relationship between CA and the ACA in the interests of cricket in Australia remains and we look forward to meeting with them shortly to that end,” he said.

“The Cricket Australia Board has carefully considered all elements of the ACA submission and has determined that it is not appropriate to make any changes to the sanctions handed down to the three players. Despite the absence of any recommendation regarding the sanctions in the recently released Ethics Centre Review, the Board has deliberated on the ACA’s submission at length,” Eddings concluded.

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