ICC wants harsher punishment for ball-tampering

KOLKATA: The International Cricket Council has asked an internal panel to suggest harsher punishment for ball-tampering and other misbehaviour by players in its bid to establish a “culture of respect”, ICC Chief Executive Dave Richardson said on Thursday.

The game’s image was sullied in Cape Town last month when Australia batsman Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera tampering with the ball during the third Test of the ill-tempered series against South Africa.

Bancroft, then captain Steve Smith and opener David Warner, were promptly sent home and handed hefty bans by Cricket Australia.Addressing a news conference after an ICC Board meeting, Richardson said the punishments under its code of conduct for such misbehaviour were inadequate.

“We want to move towards stricter and heavier sanction for ball-tampering and all other offences that are indicative of a lack of respect for your opponent, for the game, for the umpire, for fans, for the media, etc.,” he told reporters.

“We want penalties in place which act as proper deterrent. Fines are not proving to be the answer.”ICC’s Cricket Committee, chaired by former India captain Anil Kumble, will review the current ICC code of conduct and recommend suitable punishments for rogue behaviour.

“We’ve got the spirit of cricket in the laws but we need to define it in the modern day and age,” Richardson, a former South Africa player, said.“Both the CEC (Chief Executives’ Committee) and the board were very supportive of trying to develop a culture of respect across the game, both on the field and off the field.

“Hopefully through these actions of reviewing the code of conduct and developing a culture of respect we will achieve that goal.”Borrowing soccer’s red and yellow cards and handing out instant punishment would be considered, though Richardson was sceptical about the idea of using cards.

“Whether we introduce red or yellow cards, we’d leave it to the committee. I’m not convinced that it would be as easy to implement as it is in other sports.The quarterly ICC meeting acknowledged Twenty20 cricket as the vehicle to globalise the English game, deciding to grant international status to all 20-over matches between its members.

All Member women’s teams will be awarded T20I status on July 1 this year whilst all Member men’s teams will be awarded T20I status on January 1, 2019 following the cut-off point for qualification to the 2020 World T20. Rankings for women and men will be introduced in October 2018 and May 2019 respectively.

Richardson said it could prove a major step towards cricket’s Olympic inclusion at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.“Assuming that we get all of cricket united in the desire to be part of the Olympics, we will have a very good chance of persuading the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that cricket can add value to Olympics.

“Already we’ve missed the boat for applying to the IOC through the front door, we can’t go to Paris. We’ll continue to talk with LA in due course, and hopefully by 2028 we will have cricket in the Olympics.”

Meanwhile, the future of one of the most popular One-Day International tournaments has been seemingly sealed with the ICC Board moving to replace the 2021 Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in India, with a World Twenty20.

That will be the second World T20 in two years, following the 2020 event in Australia. India will host the 2021 World T20, as well as the 2023 World Cup.“ICC Members have signed off a new Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2019-2023 that incorporates the introduction of a World Test Championship and an additional ICC World T20 event in place of the Champions Trophy in 2021,” an ICC release said.

“This provides opportunities for 16 teams to compete at a global level with a sub-regional, regional and global qualification process every two years, giving more regular cricket to more Members.”

This will be the second time the World T20 has been held in consecutive years: in 2009 the event was held in England and then, less than a year later, in West Indies. It is the third time, since the 2009 Champions Trophy, that its death has been announced.