Breaking: Smith, Warner given one-year bans by Cricket Australia for ball tampering

Australian captain, Steve Smith has been handed a one year ban by Cricket Australia (CA), along with his deputy, David Warner following their role in the ball tampering scandal that has rocked the sport in the past week.

The duo has been sent back home to Australia and have also been barred from assuming captaincy roles, following an internal investigation.

The third player involved in the scandal, Cameron Bancroft has been banned for nine months for his part in the scandal.

The trio have been allowed the opportunity to appeal their sanctions which were handed for breaching CA’s code of conduct.

CA chief, James Sutherland is set to hold a media conference at 12:30 to give more clarity on the outcome of the investigations.

Following his admission of guilt, Smith was the only player in the trio to be handed a ban by the International Cricket Council as he was handed a one match suspension for breaching the game’s code of conduct, as well as a fine of his entire match fee.

Bancroft was docked three quarters if his match fee, while Warner was not given a sanction for his part.

Although previously believed to have had prior knowledge of the ball tampering, coach Darren Lehmann was cleared of any wrongdoing as, according to Sutherland, only the three players had planned the incident.

Sutherland also reveled that the recent events have prompted a review into the team culture of the Australian side.

“In addition to sanctions for individuals, Cricket Australia will initiate an independent review into the conduct and culture of our Australian men’s teams,” he said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Warner followed in Smith’s footsteps as he also stepped down from captaining his Indian Premier League outfit, the Hyderabad Sunrisers.

Also read: “Win, win, win” – How Darren Lehmann’s ethos hurt Aussie cricket