English county sides encouraged to discreetly approach Steve Smith

County sides are being discreetly sounded out about the possibility of signing Steve Smith this summer during his 12-month-ban. The former Australia skipper along with former vice-captain David Warner is suspended from playing first-class or international cricket for his country for 12 months following the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town last month that shook the sport.

Yet, multiple counties have been given encouragement over the possibility of taking Smith, whose ban does not – in theory – prevent him from playing professional cricket overseas. There is a sense within the first-class game that Cricket Australia’s stance has softened slightly after he showed humility and regret.

Can play county cricket, but would need a NoC for it

It remains to be seen whether that extends to increase his chances of playing in England, as reported by Standard Sport. To play domestic cricket in England, however, Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft would need a no-objection certificate (NOC) from CA to play for a county. Then, the ECB would have to agree to his registration.

Bancroft, who was banned for nine months would no longer be joining county side Somerset as their overseas player in the summer as confirmed by the county side last week. Whether a county side would pursue Warner is open to debate as the opener is one of the most controversial characters in cricket, and the cheating scandal has damaged his reputation severely. He has gone on to admit that he might never get a chance to play for Australia again.

According to several reports, it was tipped off that Warner would contest the sanctions, however, none of the three cricketers have challenged the sanctions which mean that the quantum of their punishments stands as it is and only a change of heart from Cricket Australia can reduce it.

After all three players accepted their punishments, CA chief executive James Sutherland said: “These are significant penalties for professional cricketers. They were not imposed lightly. We know the players will return to playing the game they love, and in doing so, we hope they rebuild their careers and regain the trust of fans.”

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