Ricky Ponting believes the lengthy bans given to former Australia captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft for their roles in March’s ball-tampering scandal in South Africa have been a beneficial “shock” to world cricket.
The issue was discussed during a two-day meeting at Lord’s concluded on Tuesday of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) World Cricket Committee — of which Australia great Ponting is a member.
“As a group we were talking about the stance CA took and how harsh that stance might have seemed to ban players for 12 months and nine months respectively,” Ponting told a press conference at Lord’s on Tuesday.
“It’s probably got the desired outcome, a kind of shock to world cricket.
“We have seen ball-tampering incidents happen probably more consistently over the last five or six years and to my mind it’s because little things have crept in that were allowed to get to a certain point and the tipping point was a pre-meditated act that the Australian players took part in South Africa.
“So I think we are all very supportive of the ICC stance to penalise anyone who steps out of line a lot more harshly than in the past.” IANS