ACA to hold talks with Cricket Australia for reducing Emily Smith's year-long ban

Emily Smith, the domestic Australian women cricketer had recently hogged the spotlight after she was banned by Cricket Australia for posting the team’s line-up on her Instagram account an hour before the WBBL game. And, now, Australia Cricket Association (ACA) is trying to get her some rebate with her ban, so that she can soon start playing.

The 24-year-old was the part of Hobart Hurricane in the ongoing WBBL T20 league. Ahead of their clash against Sydney Thunder, Smith committed the mistake of sharing the line-up on her Instagram. Later on, CA handed a one-year ban to Smith for breaching their Anti-Corruption Code. 

Smith accepted the sanction by CA that ruled her out of the league for this season. But she also said that it was just a joke in which she was intended to point towards her lower batting position.

ACA in support of Emily Smith and will hold talks with Cricket Australia

Following her ban, many players opened up saying that the board was harsh towards Emily Smith. ACA held a meeting in order to discuss the case and what they can do to help the wicket-keeper.

“The ACA Board has resolved to seek a meeting with Cricket Australia Board as soon as practicable to discuss and better understand both the sanction and the process,” ACA spokesperson said as quoted by Reuters.

An anti-gambling campaigner said that the board was quite harsh towards Smith. She simply posted team line up and it had nothing to do with match-fixing as well as it did not affect the outcome of the match. If CA holds such a stance towards betting, then they should not take a single dollar from the gambling industry given their relations with betting firms.

“What Emily Smith did in simply posting a team make-up has zero consequences on the game of cricket itself, and was clearly not corrupt. If (CA) was serious about distancing itself from betting scandals, it would not take a single dollar from the gambling industry.” Tim Costello, advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform told.

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