Cricket Australia 'not lessening sanctions' of Steve Smith, David Warner

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CA Code of Conduct does not allow for reversal or lessening of sanctions once players have fully accepted the charges (Reuters Photo)

Cricket Australia on Thursday denied rumours of reducing the sanctions that it had levied on the trio of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

Media reports suggested that former captain Smith and Warner could be allowed to play in the Sheffield Shield for the 2018-19 season, but CA's bans do not end until late March, with the final scheduled from March 28-April 1.

Bancroft should be available for selection for Western Australia for the final four rounds of matches, which start in late February.

David Warner, banned from captaining Australia, named skipper in Canada

"At no stage have we, or are we considering lessening the current sanctions in place for respective players in relation to the incident in South Africa," a spokesperson from CA told cricket.com.au.

"The CA Code of Conduct does not allow for reversal or lessening of sanctions once players have fully accepted the charges. The current articles published are purely speculative," the board added.

The banned duo is currently plying their trade in the Global T20 tournament in Canada as their sanctions do not prevent them from playing domestic cricket overseas. Smith is representing the Toronto Nationals while Warner was signed up by Winnipeg Hawks.

The former Australia vice-captain has also been elevated to lead the side after regular skipper Dwayne Bravo was sidelined for the rest of the tournament due to an injury.

Warner was made Australia's T20I captain earlier this year but following his involvement in the ball-tampering saga, "Warner will not be considered for team leadership positions in the future," according to Cricket Australia.

Warner had emerged as the chief conspirator in hatching a plan to artificially alter the condition of the ball during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town in March.

Warner and Smith were handed one-year bans while Bancroft was suspended for 9 months.

The two Aussie stars were also barred from playing in the IPL 2018. Smith was named captain of Rajasthan Royals while Warner was to lead SRH but were eventually barred from the 2018 season.

While Smith has managed to score a fifty in three matches for Toronto Nationals so far, Warner is yet to make a mark as he has struggled with scores of 1,4,1 from his three outings for the Hawks