ICC hands Smith one-match suspension. Bancroft slapped with three demerit points

Bengaluru, March 25: The ICC on Sunday (March 25) handed Australia captain Steve Smith a one-match suspension and fined 100% of his match fee following his admission that he was party to a decision to attempt to change the condition of the ball during the third day's play in the Cape Town Test against South Africa.

RR MAY SACK SMITH" title="SMITH'S FUTURE AS AUS CAPTAIN IN BALANCE | RR MAY SACK SMITH" />SMITH'S FUTURE AS AUS CAPTAIN IN BALANCE | RR MAY SACK SMITH

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson laid the charge against Smith under to Article 2.2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel which prohibits 'all types of conduct of a serious nature that is contrary to the spirit of the game'.

Australia captain given one-match suspension. https://t.co/6n48bAQpbN #cricket @icc

— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) March 25, 2018

Smith accepted the charge and the proposed sanction of two suspension points which equates to a ban for the next Test match and which will see four demerit points added to his record.

"The decision made by the leadership group of the Australian team to act in this way is clearly contrary to the spirit of the game, risks causing significant damage to the integrity of the match, the players and the sport itself and is therefore 'serious' in nature.

ICC statement. Australian captain #SteveSmith suspended #SandpaperGate #SAvAUS #Bancroft @IExpressSports pic.twitter.com/p9gRaOhT9S

— Devendra Pandey (@pdevendra) March 25, 2018

"As captain, Steve Smith must take full responsibility for the actions of his players and it is appropriate that he be suspended," said Richardson.

"The ICC needs to do more to prevent poor behavior and better police the spirit of the game, defining more clearly what is expected of players and enforcing the regulations in a consistent fashion.

"In addition and most importantly Member countries need to show more accountability for their teams' conduct. Winning is important but not at the expense of the spirit of the game which is intrinsic and precious to the sport of cricket. We have to raise the bar across all areas," he said.

Additionally, Australia opener Cameron Bancroft has been fined 75 per cent of his match fee and handed three demerit points for breaching Level 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct.

pic.twitter.com/4v0OI0LZsf

— Mike Haysman (@MikeHaysman) March 25, 2018

Bancroft admitted that he breached Article 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "changing the condition of the ball in breach of clause 41.3." and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft.

THE INCIDENT

Bancroft was seen on television holding a foreign object while rubbing the ball, before hiding the object in his pocket, then inside his trousers.

As soon as the incident was shown on the giant screen, the player was questioned in the presence of Smith by the two on-field umpires, Richard Illingworth and Nigel Llong, who, along with third umpire Ian Gould and fourth umpire Allahudien Palekar, later charged Bancroft.

The umpires inspected the ball at that time and elected not to replace the ball and award a 5-run penalty as they could not see any marks on the ball that suggested that its condition had been changed as a direct result of Bancroft's actions.

The umpires though agreed that Bancroft's actions were likely to alter the condition of the ball and he was therefore charged under Article 2.2.9.