The International Cricket Council (ICC) has handed Australian skipper Steve Smith a one-match ban and fined 100% of his match fee as on Saturday that he acknowledged that he was involved in planning to change the condition of the ball in order to gain an unfair advantage during the third day’s play in the Cape Town Test against South Africa.

As per the reports of ICC, Chief Executive David Richardson has leveled the charge against Smith under to Article 2.2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel which prohibits to ‘all types of conduct of a serious nature that is contrary to the spirit of the game’. Smith accepted the charge and the proposed sanction of two suspension points which equates to a ban for the next Test match and which will see four demerit points added to his record.

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Mr. Richardson said: “The decision made by the leadership group of the Australian team to act in this way is clearly contrary to the spirit of the game, risks causing significant damage to the integrity of the match, the players and the sport itself and is, therefore ‘serious’ in nature. As captain, Steve Smith must take full responsibility for the actions of his players and it is appropriate that he be suspended.”

He further elaborated, “The game needs to have a hard look at itself. In recent weeks we have seen incidents of ugly sledging, send-offs, dissent against umpires’ decisions, a walk-off, ball tampering and some ordinary off-field behavior. The ICC needs to do more to prevent poor behavior and better police the spirit of the game, defining more clearly what is expected of players and enforcing the regulations in a consistent fashion. In addition and most importantly Member countries need to show more accountability for their teams’ conduct. Winning is important but not at the expense of the spirit of the game which is intrinsic and precious to the sport of cricket. We have to raise the bar across all areas.”

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Additionally, Australia opener Cameron Bancroft has been fined 75 percent of his match fee along with three demerit points for breaching Level 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the third day’s play on Saturday. He also acknowledged that he breached Article 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “changing the condition of the ball in breach of clause 41.3.” and accepted the charges proposed by Andy Pycroft of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, and as such there was no need for a formal hearing.

All Level 2 breaches carry a minimum penalty of a fine of between 50-100 percent of the applicable match fee and/or up to two suspension points.