Summary Harsher punishments for ball-tampering have been on the cards ever since the issue.
(Web Desk) –A player found guilty of ball-tampering can now be banned for up to six Test matches or 12 ODIs. This is among the consequences of the ICC approving significant changes to its code of conduct during its annual conference over the weekend in Dublin, reported cricinfo.
Changing the condition of the ball, previously a Level 2 offence, is now a Level 3 offence. Sanctions for Level 3 offences have also been hardened: where they would have earlier earned a player eight suspension points - leading to a maximum ban of four Tests or eight ODIs - it will now earn 12 suspension points. Level 4 offences, meanwhile, will earn a minimum of 12 suspension points.
Harsher punishments for ball-tampering have been on the cards ever since the issue reared its head during the Newlands Test in March. The ball-tampering controversy led to Cricket Australia banning Steven Smith and David Warner from international cricket for a year and Cameron Bancroft for nine months. The ICC s code-of-conduct sanctions were far less severe: a one-Test ban for captain Smith and three demerit points for Bancroft, the player who attempted to alter the ball s condition using a foreign object.
