Smith and Warner stood down following cricket cheating scandal

Cricket Australia released a statement last night after the national cricketing team admitted to deliberately tampering with the ball at the third Test in South Africa.

Speaking in a statement, Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland gave the public an update on the future of Steve Smith and David Warner.

“Following discussions with Steve Smith and David Warner they have agreed to stand down as Captain and Vice-Captain respectively for the remainder of this Test match,” he said.

“This Test match needs to proceed, and in the interim we will continue to investigate this matter with the urgency that it demands. As I said earlier today, Cricket Australia and Australian cricket fans expect certain standards of conduct from cricketers representing our country, and on this occasion these standards have not been met.”

Since news broke on Sunday, almost everyone in Australia has expressed their disappointment in the cheating scandal, including Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. He said that he was “shocked and bitterly disappointed” by the team’s actions.

Turnbull himself said he had a chat with Cricket Australia chairman David Peever and expressed his concern over the matter. “We all woke up this morning shocked and bitterly disappointed by the news from South Africa,” he explained on Sunday.

“It seemed completely beyond belief that the Australian cricket team had been involved in cheating. After all, our cricketers are role models and cricket is synonymous with fair play. How can our team by engaged in cheating like this? It beggars belief. There’s a lot of disappointment.”

Peever said in a statement that Australians wanted and needed answers as to why the team cheated in the first place. “All Australians, like us, want answers and we will keep you updated on our findings, as a matter of priority,” he said.

Bancroft caught on camera, in graphic detail, doctoring the ball. Unlikely he’d get away with a “brain-fade” sham as Steve Smith in Ind. SA Board shd have more self-respect than India’s, Lodha-fied & knee-capped #SAvAUS
pic.twitter.com/vlHvCERRJS

— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) March 24, 2018

He also spoke of who would replace Smith as an Acting Captain. “The Board of Cricket Australia has endorsed Tim Paine to step in as Acting Captain for the remainder of this Test. Both Steve and David will take to the field today under Tim’s captaincy.

“The Board fully supports the process for an immediate investigation into what occurred in Cape Town. We regard this as a matter of the utmost seriousness and urgency. We will ensure we have all information available to make the right decisions for Australian Cricket.”

In addition, the International Cricket Council announced that Smith would be given a one-match suspension and fined 100 per cent of his match fee. ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said in a statement that Smith’s behaviour went against the spirit of the game. “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,” he said in a statement. “ As captain, Steve Smith must take full responsibility for the actions of his players and it is appropriate that he be suspended.”

Cameron Bancroft, who was caught on the big screen at the match appearing to rub a yellow object on a ball, was fined 75 per cent of his match fee and handed three demerit points.

The sporting work was in shock when footage of Cameron Bancroft was caught on the big screen appearing to rub a yellow object on the ball.

What do you think? Is this punishment enough, or should there be further consequences for cheating?