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Regular-article-logo Friday, 19 April 2024

CA mulls lifting ban on the trio

CA has come under pressure from the Australian Cricketers’ Association to end the bans

Our Bureau Calcutta Published 07.11.18, 09:01 PM
Steve Smith

Steve Smith Getty Images

Cricket Australia (CA) is considering a demand from the players’ union that the ball-tampering bans on Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft be lifted immediately, Australian media reported on Wednesday.

CA has come under pressure from the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) to end the bans following the release of the Longstaff review, which laid some of the blame for the Cape Town scandal at the door of the board.

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The governing body’s CEO Kevin Roberts said: “The ACA submission around the players’ sanctions was received by the board a few days ago.

“It was addressed to the board rather than to me or all management. So, not for me to comment on a board matter, other than to say that the board will be respecting that submission and giving it due consideration.”

The Longstaff review identified failures at a governance level, which prompted the ACA to claim that the bans should be shortened or rescinded in the wake of receiving “independent verification that CA’s system and culture were contributing factors.”

ACA president Greg Dyer added last week: “We note that the board of CA has both the power and in our view the moral obligation to do so. My message to Cricket Australia is a simple one: these contrite men have been punished enough. Let them play. I add that the ACA will be relentless in pursuing this end.”

Former captain Smith and his vice-captain Warner were each suspended for 12 months after the ball-tampering scandal broke in March, while opening batsman Bancroft was banned for nine months.

The bans extend to the Sheffield Shield and the Big Bash Twenty20 competition.

Earlier on Wednesday, CA announced the exits of high-performance chief Pat Howard and broadcasting boss Ben Amarfio, as the fall-out from the Longstaff review continued.

The latest departures come after chairman David Peever was forced out last week and former Test captain Mark Taylor quit as a director.

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