Cricket Australia bans Emily Smith for a year for violating anti-corruption laws

Cricket Australia has banned Hobart Hurricanes wicketkeeper Emily Smith for a period of a year and suspended her for nine months for violating the body's anti-corruption policy by sharing the team's line-up on her Instagram post. Smith has accepted the ban and will sit out for the remainder of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).

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Banned for a year

On November 2, Smith posted a video on her own Instagram profile from the restricted area of the Player and Match Official Area (PMOA) an hour before the start of the match. She violated Article 2.3.2 of the anti-corruption code. She will also be unable to play in the 50-over Women's National Cricket League. The rules state, "Disclosing Inside Information to any person (with or without Reward) where the Participant knew or might reasonably have known that such disclosure might lead to the information being used in relation to Betting in relation to any Match or Event."

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Sean Carroll, who is Cricket Australia's Head of Integrity and Security said, "CA's rigorous anti-corruption player education program means that players are well aware of their obligations under the Anti-Corruption Code and there is no excuse for breaches regardless of the reasons for information being disclosed." He spoke about how Smith breaches the rules intentionally. He said, "We have been working with Emily throughout the process and Emily now understands the mistake she made. Unfortunately, in this instance, Emily's actions breached the Anti-Corruption Code. We hope this serves as a reminder to all that the Anti-Corruption Code is critical to protecting the integrity of the game."

The match in question was washed out and no ball was bowled. She will be replaced by Tasmanian Tigers wicketkeeper Emma Mannix-Geeves under the special circumstances. The body is known to follow the rules strictly, having banned Steve Smith and David Warner in the infamous paper gate incident. 

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