Sydney/New Delhi: Spin legend Shane Warne feels that the punishment handed out to the captain Steve Smith and his two teammates after their involvement in ball tampering was a bit too harsh.

Cricket Australia on Wednesday banned Smith and David Warner for one year, while Cameron Bancroft was given a nine-month ban after the Board completed its investigation into the ball-tampering scandal.

"I am still trying to wrestle with what I think the punishment should be. They have to be harsh, but if they are rubbed out for a year, the punishment does not fit the crime," Warne wrote in his column for The Herald Sun.

Warne said that the players' embarrassing act called for a hefty fine but not a 12-month ban.

"Let's take the emotion out of it. We are all feeling angry and embarrassed. But you need a level head and you shouldn't destroy someone unless they deserve to be destroyed. Their actions were indefendable, and they need to be severely punished. But I don't think a one-year ban is the answer.

"My punishment would have been to miss the fourth Test match, a huge fine, and be sacked as captain and vice-captain. But they should still be allowed to play," he felt.

"The punishment is way too harsh but the crime committed on the field cannot be condoned," said the legendary leg-spinner.

Michael Hussey, Warne's former Australia teammate, feels that it will be difficult for the besmirched cricketers to reclaim their reputations when the dust settles on the ball-tampering scandal. He, however, added that the episode is nonetheless a chance for the team to reclaim some of its lost principles and values.

"I feel like we've lost sight of some of these principles in recent years... There are some very good people representing Australia at the moment - but the ball-tampering issue isn't the first time the team as a collective has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons," Hussey wrote in a website.

"The next few days, weeks and months will be difficult for Australian cricket," said Hussey. Agencies