Cricket Australia has decided to uphold in full the suspensions handed out to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft for their role in the ball tampering scandal.
The call, announced on Tuesday afternoon, means Bancroft will see out his nine-month suspension while Warner and Smith will sit on the domestic and international sidelines for a full 12 months.
CA’s seven-person board met via a phone hook-up on Monday and Tuesday to make a decision on the penalties handed down to the trio following the Cape Town controversy.
Several options were reportedly on the table for the three players after a submission from the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) following the findings from the Longstaff cultural review called for the players’ bans to be overturned immediately.
The players’ association argued in its submission the review found the ball-tampering saga was not just the fault of the players, but also a result of the sport’s win-at-all-costs mentality.
Before the final decision on the trio’s future was made it was understood the ACA had not taken an all-or-nothing approach, with one option put forward suggesting the players be allowed to return to Sheffield Shield action early but not international cricket.
That was the option that most quickly gathered momentum ahead of the CA meetings this week, but was ultimately rejected.
Another resolution reportedly on offer was to see the trio’s returns weighted, with Bancroft free to return for the final two Shield rounds before the Big Bash begins, and Warner and Smith allowed to resume domestic cricket after the T20 break in February.
That would have seen all three players serve close to 90 per cent of their CA-enforced bans. But CA has stuck firm and will force the players to serve the entirety of their bans.
The debate on whether to uphold the bans or not had already split current and ex-players before CA handed down its final decision. Simon Katich and Mitchell Johnson argued the existing international bans should stand while George Bailey and Nathan Lyon called for their return to Shield cricket.
On Tuesday Johnson backtracked slightly, saying he was not against the trio playing Shield cricket.
Smith, Warner and Bancroft have spent this summer playing grade cricket in Sydney and Perth, and it’s understood their promotion of the game, community service and contrition formed part of the ACA submission.
Meanwhile the appointment of a full-time CA chairman is believed to have been placed on the backburner, with interim Earl Eddings still the most likely option.
Eddings’ predecessor David Peever previously asserted his belief the trio’s bans should stand before his resignation earlier this month. Former board member Mark Taylor, who quit this month, also said repeatedly the bans would remain.
