• Disgraced Smith in Canada T20

    Former Australia captain Steve Smith, banned from international cricket for his role in ball-tampering, has been named as a marquee player in the new Global T20 Canada league.

    Smith was stripped of his captaincy and banned for a year, along with his right-hand man David Warner, for persuading rookie Cameron Bancroft to use sandpaper to alter the ball in the third Test against South Africa at Newlands in March. Bancroft was banned for nine months.

    Warner is also expected to join the league, which starts on 28 June. They have been given permission to play in domestic leagues outside Australia, although they still have to give 100 hours of community service during their bans.

    Both Smith and Warner lost lucrative IPL contracts after being found guilty of ball-tampering.

    South Africa’s David Miller is also among the top names in the Canadian league, along with Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Shahid Afridi, Darren Sammy, Lasith Malinga, Sunil Narine and Dwayne Bravo in the month-long tournament.

    Global T20 Canada will consist of six teams, five representing Canadian cities – Edmonton Royals, Montreal Tigers, Toronto Nationals, Vancouver Knights and Winnipeg Hawks. While the sixth team will be a Cricket West Indies representative team consisting entirely of players from the Caribbean, as part of an official partnership with Cricket West Indies (CWI).

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    SA CRICKET