The punishments slapped on Australian cricketers Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft for their roles in a ball-tampering scandal were extreme, former Australia international Shane Watson said on Tuesday.
Smith and Warner are serving year-long bans for their part in the Cape Town scandal in March, while Bancroft got a nine-month suspension.
“It is an extreme penalty for what they did compared to the bans that have happened and the reprimands that have happened in the past,” Watson said at a news conference in Dubai.
“They’ve paid a heavy price, there is no question, and when they come back they will be doing everything they can to try and repay people for the mistakes they made.”
Smith has also been banned from taking on any leadership position for an additional 12 months and Warner will not be allowed to serve in a leadership position again.
