Cricket player banned after revealing team news ahead of schedule

    Ibrahim Mustapha
    Smith has been suspended after posting a team line-up on her Instagram account. (Getty)

    A cricketer has been banned by from playing after posting her side’s line-up on social media ahead of its release time. 

    Hobart Hurricanes’ Emily Smith was suspended until February after posting a video with the team sheet for their match against Sydney Thunder on her personal Instagram account on Saturday, 2 November.

    By revealing the team for the Women’s Big Bash League match ahead of its scheduled release, Cricket Australia (CA) deemed Smith to be in breach of their anti-corruption code. 

    The code states: "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."

    CA confirmed the video was posted an hour before the match, which ended up being a washout without a ball being bowled. 

    Sean Carroll, Cricket Australia's head of integrity and security, accepted the wicketkeeper hadn’t intended to breach the code but said there were ‘no excuses’

    "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 said.

    "Since the commencement of the WBBL, Cricket Australia has had in place a robust anti-corruption program.

    "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 reminder to all that the Anti-Corruption Code is critical to protecting the integrity of the game."

    Smith accepted her sanction of a year’s suspension from all forms of cricket although nine months of those are suspended, ruling her out of the remainder of this season’s WBBL and Women's National Cricket League.   

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