Ball-tampering scandal: Smith, Warner handed one-year suspension

Melbourne [Australia], Mar. 28 (ANI): Former Australian skipper Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner have reportedly been handed a 12-month suspension by Cricket Australia (CA) for their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal that took place during the third Test of the ongoing four-match series against South Africa in Cape Town.

Meanwhile, Cameron Bancroft, the third member found guilty in Cricket Australia's internal investigation and the player who actually tampered with the ball, has been imposed a suspension of nine months, cricket.com.au reported.

Cricket Australia, however, is expected to officially confirm the announcement of their penalties later today.

Earlier today, Warner had stepped down as the captain of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad in the aftermath of the massive ball-tampering scandal.

Cricket Australia had previously announced that it has found Steve Smith, Warner, and Cameron Bancroft guilty in the ball-tampering scandal, and suspended the trio for the fourth and final Test against South Africa in Johannesburg, beginning on Friday.

After the CA investigation, all three players were found guilty of breaching article 2.3.5 of Cricket Australia's Code of Conduct and were sent back home from South Africa on Thursday.

Following the fiasco, Smith and Warner stood down as captain and vice-captain, respectively.

Smith, who was part of the "leadership group", admitted to charges of ball tampering, which took place during the third Test match in Cape Town, and stood down from captaining the side in the remaining days of the same Test.

In the following days, Smith also announced his resignation as captain of the Rajasthan Royals franchise.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) had initially handed a one-match suspension and fined 100 per cent of his match fee to Smith for his leadership role in ball-tampering, while the global cricket body fined Bancroft 75 per cent of his match fee and handed three demerit points to him for breaching Level 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct.

The incident took place during South Africa's innings on Saturday afternoon when Bancroft was seen on television holding a small yellow object while rubbing the rough side of the ball, before hiding the object in his pocket, then inside his trousers.(ANI)