Smith, Warner, Bancroft sent home from South Africa
Smith, Warner set to miss India series, IPL depends on NOC
New Delhi, March 27: The disgraced Australian duo of Steve Smith and David Warner is not just staring at an ouster from IPL but is also also facing the prospect of missing the India series later this year, as speculations over a length ban for ball tampering gained credence.
Cricket Australia chiefs holding crisis talks in South Africa to deal with an escalating cheating scandal. Cricket Australia (CA) boss James Sutherland, under mounting pressure to come down hard on what Australian media has dubbed a “rotten” team culture, will give a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were being sent home but Darren Lehmann, who “had no knowledge of ball tampering,” was to continue as Australia coach, Sutherland said.
CA is set to announce sanctions on the erring cricketers on Wednesday. Reports say they could ban both Smith and vice-captain David Warner for 12 months.
If it’s a one-year ban, which looks likely, the home series against India in (December-January) will be played without the two superstars. Already young opener Matt Renshaw has flown to Johannesburg, indicating that Warner will also not be a part of the final Test match against South Africa.
Another bone of contention is their Indian Premier League contracts with Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderbad. There is every possibility that Smith may seek time out of cricket to sort out the mess he is currently in but the same can’t be said about Warner, who is one of the greatest T20 exponents of all time.
While the BCCI is awaiting sanctions from Cricket Australia, the key to the decision will be the contents of the No Objection Certificates (NOC) issued by their home board. “What a lot of media channels are not understanding is that BCCI at this point has no right to terminate their contract. In case Cricket Australia has a clause in their contracts that gives them right to cancel the duo’s NOC for private leagues based on disrepute caused during international matches, then BCCI won’t even come into question. If CA’s ban is exclusive of NOC given to them for IPL, they will be available for the league,” a BCCI official said. —