Steve Smith and David Warner, the senior partners in the ball-tampering conspiracy, have each been banned for 12 months.
Cameron Bancroft, the junior player tasked with carrying out the doctoring of the ball, has been banned for nine months.
The sentences were confirmed by Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland, who had promised ‘significant’ sanctions against the three players.
Also, Smith will not be considered for the captaincy for the Australian team for two years, while Warner will never be considered.
They will be permitted to play club cricket, and according to Cricket Australia, will be encouraged to do so ‘to maintain links with the cricket community’. In addition, all three players will be required to undertake 100 hours of voluntary service in community cricket.
The IPL commissioner Rajiv Shukla has also confirmed that Warner and Smith will not play in the IPL this year – which means they’ve each lost out on contracts worth $2.5-million (about R30-million). Both had already resigned the captaincy of their teams, the Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively.
All three players will be free to play in next year’s World Cup in England, starting on 30 May 2019. In the meantime, Smith and Warner will miss Tests against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, India (four), Sri Lanka (two) and Pakistan (three), as well as the five-match ODI series against South Africa in Australia in October-November.
In a press conference on Tuesday night, Sutherland emphasised that only those three players were involved.
‘No other players or support staff had prior knowledge and this includes Darren Lehmann, who despite inaccurate media reports, has not resigned from his position,’ Sutherland said. ‘He will continue to coach the Australian men’s team under his current contract.’
Unconfirmed reports suggest Smith will cancel his IPL contract with the Royals and take a break from cricket. He stood down from the captaincy of the IPL team earlier this week.
Warner also gave up the captaincy of Hyderabad and he lost a major sponsorship when electronics giant LG said they would not renew their deal with him.
Bancroft’s contract with Somerset in the County Championship is also under threat.
Director of cricket at Somerset, Andy Hurry said the county was following events closely.
‘We are aware that Cricket Australia are following their internal processes.
‘We appreciate there is a lot of emotion, disappointment and media surrounding the on-field incidents during last Saturday’s third Test match in Cape Town and it is imperative we follow our appropriate processes that will enable us to make the right decision for us as a club in due course.’
Smith has not missed a Test since March 2013 in India, a streak of 59 matches in which he has scored 23 Test centuries, handed the Test captaincy and ascended to the top of the Test batting rankings.
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