Australian Cricketers’ Association calls for trio to have bans reduced

● Players’ union says Smith, Warner and Bancroft ‘have been punished enough’

The Australian Cricketers’ Association has called for banned trio Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft to have their suspensions reduced following a review of Cricket Australia.

The three players were handed bans by CA in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal during the Test series against South Africa earlier this year.

There was international outcry after Bancroft was caught on camera attempting to change the condition of the ball using sandpaper, while senior players Smith and Warner were also implicated.

The fallout saw a review commissioned into the governing body, during which CA was heavily criticised for the culture within Australian cricket, and the players’ union, the ACA, has called for a reduction in the bans handed out to the three batsmen as a result.

“Yes, this moment of madness was ‘individual’ but now there is evidence and independent verification of system failure as well,” ACA president Greg Dyer said in a statement.

“This is hugely significant. With this new information common sense, common decency, basic fairness, proportionality and natural justice demand that the punishment is reduced.

“The players have already lost time in the game, chances to play for Australia, endured public humiliation and faced massive financial penalties.

“My message to Cricket Australia is a simple one: These contrite men have been punished enough. Let these contrite 0 Steve Smith: Banned in wake of the ball-tampering scandal.

men play. I add that the ACA will be relentless in pursuing this end.”

Meanwhile, England’s bowlingattackweregivenareminder of the hard work ahead of them in Sri Lanka after kicking off their Test preparations with a tough day in Colombo.

Day one of the first warmup match against a strong Sri Lanka Board XI saw the tourists toil for almost 90 overs, but beyond acclimatisation to the energy-sapping conditions it was hard to determine what they will take from the experience.

By close of play the scoreboard read 392 for nine declared – though the unforced retirements of Kaushal Silva (62), Sadeera Samarawickrama (58) and Ashan Priyanjan (50) gave that a cosier look than England’s efforts warranted. Spinner Moeen Ali was the pick of the England bowlers as he took two of the six wickets that fell.