Australian captain Steve Smith is currently suffering a one year ban post his involvement in the ball tampering scandal at Cape Town against South Africa back in March. Smith, who still has more than three months left in his ban, suffered yet another big blow after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) barred the right hander’s participation in the upcoming edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), scheduled to kick start from January 5.
Smith was signed by the Comilla Victorians as a replacement of Asela Gunaratne in the upcoming edition of the tournament. The BPL franchises had however expressed concern over his inclusion in the tournament, citing the fact that Smith was signed from outside the draft – a move which went against the laws of the tournament. The matter was handed over to the BCB to take the final call.
“The rule of the tournament is that if a franchise takes a replacement, his name should be in the list of initial players’ draft. But Smith’s name was not there,” BCB chief Nizamuddin Chowdhury said.
“Yes he [Smith] is not available for us. We have received a mail in this regard last night,” Victorians chief executive Col[retd] AKM Zaki was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
While Smith has been barred from participating in the upcoming edition, his compatriot David Warner, who is also serving a 12 month ban for Australia, will be captaining the Sylhet Sixers in the tournament which is all set to kick off from January 5. Australia, in the meanwhile, will be playing India in the third of the four match test series at the MCG on Boxing Day (December 26).
