The International Cricket Council plans tougher punishments for players caught cheating as the game reels from the Australian ball-tampering scandal. ICC chairman Shashank Manohar said tougher penalties were needed to avoid a repeat of the behaviour in South Africa of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft that has thrown cricket into disrepute.
“Every team wants to win, but players can’t use dubious methods to gain victory. It is not in the spirit of the game,” Manohar said. The ICC has taken a serious note of the events in Cape Town and plans to put together a group of former players of impeccable reputation to draft tough penalties against ball tampering and other such activities. The new panel will operate under the existing code of conduct, but will be free to suggest any action that it may deem fit. The penalty must be such that it deters all cricketers from indulging in such malpractices in future.”
The ICC banned disgraced Australia captain Smith for one Test and docked his match fee for his role in the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town. Vice captain Warner escaped any sanction while opener Bancroft, who was caught on camera trying to alter the ball, was fined 75 per cent of his match fee.
The penalties triggered criticism with former players and fans accusing the ICC of being too lenient. Cricket Australia has since banned Smith and Warner for one year and Bancroft for nine months. ICC is likely to set up the new panel at its meeting in Kolkata next month. The panel could include the likes of Australian great Allan Border and Indian spin legend Anil Kumble. Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar said that “right decision” had been taken to uphold the integrity of the game. “Whatever has happened is unfortunate but the right decision has been taken to uphold the integrity of the game,” he wrote on Twitter.
No toss change
The ICC committee which met in Mumbai also addressed the rules in the new ICC World Test Championship, which will begin next year. The committee rejected the idea of the toss being automatically awarded to the visiting team - a measure that has been suggested to reduce home advantage and improve the quality of wickets.
The committee also recommended a points system for the World Test Championship. A system in which points are awarded on the basis of every match - with no extra points for series victory - was advocated, which would mean no dead Tests. It was proposed that each team would get one-third of the number of points for a draw in a match as they would from winning it, which would incentivise attacking cricket. The exact points system that will be used remains unclear, largely because series within the Championship will last anywhere between two and five Tests.
