Spin legend Shane Warne feels that the punishment handed out to the captain Steve Smith and his two teammates after their involvement in ball tampering was a bit too harsh.
Cricket Australia on Wednesday banned Smith and David Warner for one-year while Cameron Bancroft was given a nine-month ban after the board completed its investigation into the ball-tampering scandal.
“I am still trying to wrestle with what I think the punishment should be. They have to be harsh, but if they are rubbed out for a year, the punishment does not fit the crime,” Warne wrote in his column for The Herald Sun.
Warne said that the players’ embarrassing act called for a hefty fine but not a 12-month ban.
“My punishment would have been to miss the fourth Test match, a huge fine, and be sacked as captain and vice-captain. But they should still be allowed to play,” Warne felt.
“The punishment is way too harsh but the crime committed on the field cannot be condoned,” said the legendary leg-spinner.
“But the jump to hysteria is something that has elevated the offence beyond what they actually did, and maybe we're at a point where the punishment just might not fit the crime,” Warne added.
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