Darren Lehmann to remain Australia head coach: Sutherland

"No other players or support staff had prior knowledge and this includes Darren Lehmann, who despite inaccurate media reports, has not resigned from his position," he said on the coach," Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland told reporters.

"He will continue to coach the Australian men’s team under his current contract," he said.

Cricket Australia said Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft have been suspended for the fourth Test against South Africa in Johannesburg for their involvement in the ball-tampering incident.

"After a CA investigation, all three players were found guilty of breaching article 2.3.5 of Cricket Australia’s Code of Conduct and will fly home from South Africa on Wednesday (South Africa time)," Cricket Australia said in a statement.

Smith has been stripped from his captaincy at least for the remaining fourth Test of the series.

He had resigned from his position mid way in the third Test after the entire episode came to light at the end of the third day of the match.

Tim Paine acted as the skipper on the fourth day of the game.

He will be serving as the skipper in the fourth Test.

Tim will be Australia's 46th Test skipper.

Smith,Warner and Cameron Bancroft will be sent home from South Africa, the board said.

Queensland pair Matthew Renshaw and Joe Burns, and Victoria's Glenn Maxwell have been added to the squad as their replacements.

"Earlier today (Tuesday), I received an update about the investigation being conducted by our Head of Integrity Iain Roy and in conducting his interviews he was accompanied by two ICC integrity officers," Sutherland told reporters in Johannesburg.

"While that investigation is not complete, preliminary findings have been considered and discussed by the CA board earlier today," he said.

"The key finding is that prior knowledge of the ball tampering incident was limited to three players: Captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft," Sutherland said.

The ICC on Sunday said Australia captain Steve Smith, who had stepped down during the third Test match against South Africa, has been given one-match suspension and fined 100 percent of his match fee.

The move was made following allegations of ball- tampering was labelled against him.

He will now miss the fourth Test match against South Africa which is scheduled to be played in Johannesburg from Mar 30 to Apr 3.

South Africa defeated Australia to take 2-1 lead in the series.

Additionally, Australia opener Cameron Bancroft has been fined 75 per cent of his match fee and handed three demerit points for breaching Level 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the third day’s play on Saturday.

Bancroft admitted that he breached Article 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “changing the condition of the ball in breach of clause 41.3.” and accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, and as such there was no need for a formal hearing.

The incident that led to the charges being laid took place during South Africa’s innings on Saturday afternoon when Bancroft was seen on television holding a foreign object while rubbing the ball, before hiding the object in his pocket, then inside his trousers.

As soon as the incident was shown on the giant screen, the player was questioned in the presence of his captain Steve Smith by the two on-field umpires, Richard Illingworth and Nigel Llong, who, along with third umpire Ian Gould and fourth umpire Allahudien Palekar, later charged Bancroft.

The umpires inspected the ball at that time and elected not to replace the ball and award a 5-run penalty as they could not see any marks on the ball that suggested that its condition had been changed as a direct result of Bancroft’s actions.

The umpires though agreed that Bancroft’s actions were likely to alter the condition of the ball and he was therefore charged under Article 2.2.9.

The two squads are given below:

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de Kock, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, AB de Villiers.

Australia squad: Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

 

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