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Time for Cricket Australia to end the Smith, Warner and Bancroft bans

22nd October, 2018
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22nd October, 2018
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When Cricket Australia suspended Australian captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner for 12 months – and Cam Bancroft for nine – over ball tampering against South Africa last March, the cricket world was stunned by the severity.

Now, it is time for Cricket Australia to admit it over-reacted to make a monumental blunder, and end the suspensions immediately. Seven months is more than enough of a penalty.

Cameron Bancroft

Cameron Bancroft of Australia talks to the umpire. (AP Photo/Halden Krog)

There had been 11 previous ball tamperers from 1990 found guilty, with the biggest punishments 100 per cent of match fee, and two ODIs.

Bashed with a wet lettuce.

Whatever possessed Cricket Australia to go over the top still remains a mystery. Sri Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal was found guilty of ball tampering last June against the West Indies at Gros Islet. He copped a one-Test suspension from the ICC just three months after the Cricket Australia decision.

Farcical.

If the ICC cannot bring itself to hand down 12-month suspensions, why should Cricket Australia do so? They never gave the ramifications of the grossly hefty suspensions enough thought.

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While Cricket Australia sits back wallowing in the massive cash flow over the next six years of $1.182 billion – yes billion – the new television coverage owners Fox and Channel Seven are looking at a disastrous debut Test season in Australia. They’ll be showing four Tests against India and two against Sri Lanka.

Since the suspensions, the baggy greens have been smashed by South Africa to the tune of 492 runs in Johannesburg, earned an honourable draw against Pakistan in Dubai, but were still 99 runs adrift in the fourth dig, and smashed again by 373 runs in the Abu Dhabi second Test.

The Australian totals: 221, 119, 202, 8-362, 282 and 164.

Hardly riveting viewing for fans, and with Australia’s best batsman left in Usman Khawaja likely to miss the first Test against India following knee surgery, and pacemen Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood always under an injury cloud, the baggy greens are decimated.

Steve Smith Usman Khawaja

Two of Australia’s best batsmen are out. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)

So bring back Smith, Warner and Bancroft for the sake of the sport in Australia, and to support the new television stations who deserve to cover the best Australian team possible. They have paid handsomely for that right.

And drop the 12-month extra ban on Smith, allowing him to captain the side. The life ban for Warner as vice-captain is also well over the top.

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Then the baggy greens can compete against India with a lineup that could look like this:

1 – David Warner
2 – Aaron Finch
3 – Usman Khawaja /Matt Renshaw /Joe Burns
4 – Steve Smith (c)
5 – Cameron Bancroft
6 – Glenn Maxwell (if among the runs) /Marcus Stoinis /Marnus Labuschagne
7 – Tim Paine
8 – Pat Cummins
9 – Mitchell Starc
10 – Nathan Lyon
11 – Josh Hazlewood

Fox and Seven would be delighted, so too the fans.

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