Former speedster describes Australia bans as a ‘slap on the wrist’

Wed, Apr 4, '18

Former West Indies fast bowling legend, Sir Curtly Ambrose has labelled the suspensions imposed by both the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket Australia (CA) on three Australian cricketers in a ball-tampering scandal, as a “slap on the wrist.”
Former captain Steven Smith and batsmen David Warner and Cameron Bancroft apologised last week over the incident, which happened in a Test match in South Africa.
The trio was each given one-match suspensions by the ICC and had to forfeit their match fees. While Smith and Warner received 12-month bans from the sport, Cricket Australia suspended Bancroft for nine months.This, Ambrose said, is not a deterrent.
“Remember the ICC only gave them one-match suspensions and their match fees, and, to me, that was a slap on the wrist because something like that should be more than just a one match and match fees. These guys should be banned for a couple of years because that’s foolishness, to be honest. It’s telling me that I can cheat as much as I want and be prepared to just get a match off and my match fee and that’s ok,” he said.