Cricket Australia strips Steve Smith of captaincy; bans him for a year

Following much hype and media frenzy, Cricket Australia has gone ahead and stripped Steve Smith of the Australian captaincy after the terrible ball-tampering incident that left cricket fans around the world shell-shocked. The 28-year old came out and admitted to the fact that Cameron Bancroft, the 25-year old Aussie opener did indeed tamper the ball in order to be the beneficiary of reverse swing.

This incident was caught on tape by a South Africa-based cameraman who caught Bancroft hiding the yellow piece of tape in his underpants. There have been widespread inhibitions on the sanctions that needed to be levied on Smith and those involved in the incident.

Now, it would seem as though Cricket Australia will indeed go ahead and ban Smith for a period of one year and strip him of his captaincy as well. While many do believe that he did indeed deserve a life-ban, there are the others who may certainly feel that it is simply a slap on the wrist, to say the least. This has taken a toll on Smith’s image as a brand for many companies, something that will see him losing a lot of money from endorsements. He has also stepped down as the skipper of the Rajasthan Royals.

Sanctions levied on Bancroft and Warner

While Steve Smith was handed a year-long ban, his deputy David Warner has also been handed a similar ban and will not be expected to feature for the Australian side for the next 12 months. Warner, similar to Smith has also stepped down from his position as captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2018 edition of the IPL.

An accomplice to the crime, Cameron Bancroft has also been handed a slightly lesser sentence as compared to his teammates and will be barred from selection for the Australian cricket team for a period of nine months.