CA TO REVIEW SMITH, WARNER BANS: REPORTS

SYDNEY: Steve Smith and David Warner could have their one-year bans from international and state cricket reduced or adjusted after a review by the board of Cricket Australia (CA) this week, local media reports said on Monday. Former Test captain Smith and vice-captain Warner were handed bans by CA after the ball-tampering scandal earlier this year and are not scheduled to resume playing at the top level until the end of March 2019. Batsman Cameron Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban for his part in the affair and is scheduled to return to action at the end of December. The Australian Cricketers’ Association have always contested the bans were overly-harsh and have continued to push for all three to be able to return to representative cricket immediately. Those calls intensified after a cultural review into CA last month that suggested that the culture fostered in the game by the governing body had contributed to the incident in a Test against South Africa.

Bangladesh call uncapped opener for West Indies Test

DHAKA: Bangladesh selectors have called up uncapped opener Shadman Islam for the first Test against the Windies starting Thursday. The left-hander was rewarded for a strong showing with the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in a two-day match against the visitors that ended in a draw in Chittagong on Monday. Shadman hit 73 off 169 balls with 10 fours and a six in the match, sharing 126 runs with opening partner Soumya Sarkar. Bangladesh were looking for an opener after veteran Tamim Iqbal was injured during a training session. Squad: Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarker, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Ariful Haque, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Shadman Islam, Khaled Ahmed and Nayeem Hasan.