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BCCI seeks action against Smith, Handscomb
Despite the International Cricket Council’s efforts to pacify the Indian and Australian contingents over the ‘cheat-gate’, which saw Australia captain Steve Smith seeking directions from the dressing room over whether to use DRS during the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Bengaluru, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in consultation with the Indian team, has decided to press for a disciplinary action against Smith and Peter Handscomb.
The Hindu understands that the BCCI, on Thursday, formally reported the matter to the match referee Chris Broad and the ICC. The complaint refers to Smith and Handscomb, who admitted to have asked his skipper to check with the dressing room while batting at the non-striker’s end.
The BCCI, according to an insider involved in registering the complaint with the ICC, has followed the ICC’s Code of Conduct for Players and has sought a disciplinary action required for a Level 2 offence.
The BCCI, upon the insistence of the team, is understood to have asked the ICC to press Level 2 charges against Smith and Handscomb for “conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game” and “conduct that brings the game into disrepute”.
Irked by CA and Broad
It is also understood that the BCCI and the team management was irked by the reaction of Cricket Australia and Broad for trying to push the matter under the carpet.
While Cricket Australia, despite Smith admitting the episode as a “brain-fade” moment, staunchly stood behind its captain, Broad told Australia’s The Daily Telegraph after the match that he won’t take any action against either of the batsmen involved. Match referees are not supposed to interact with the media about disciplinary issues.
After the ‘cheat-gate’ erupted on Tuesday, which saw India register a come-from-behind 75-run victory to square the series, the BCCI, in a statement released on Wednesday, had “requested the ICC to take cognisance of the fact that the Australian skipper Mr. Steve Smith, in his press conference, admitted to a ‘brain-fade’ at that moment”.
Interestingly, the press release was drafted after the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators had interacted with captain Virat Kohli and the support staff.
In response, the ICC clarified on Wednesday that no action will be taken against any player involved in the game.
“We would encourage both teams to focus their energies on the third Test [to be held] in Ranchi next week. Ahead of that, the match referee will bring both captains together to remind them of their responsibilities to the game,” said Dave Richardson, the ICC chief executive.
It seems the week-long break before the Ranchi Test will have plenty of action off the field.