Cricket Australia imposes one-year ban on Hobart Hurricanes' Emily Smith for anti-corruption code violation

Sydney: Cricket Australia has imposed a one-year ban on Hobart Hurricanes player Emily Smith for breaching its anti-corruption code by posting her team’s lineup for a Women’s Big Bash League match on Instagram before its official release. Nine months of Smith’s penalty will be suspended but she will serve a three-month suspension, ruling her out of the rest of the season’s WBBL and Women’s National Cricket League competitions.

JUST IN: A social media post has seen Hobart's Emily Smith banned for the remainder of the @WBBL season: https://t.co/2YDTF1g4oc pic.twitter.com/hvcB3nTlXr

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 18, 2019

The 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman, who has played 43 WBBL matches, posted the Hurricanes team for a match against the Sydney Thunder on her personal Instagram account on 2 November, an hour before its official release. The match was later abandoned due to weather. Article 2.3.2 of the anti-corruption code prohibits “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.” Cricket Australia head of integrity and security Sean Carroll said Cricket Australia accepted Smith had no intention of breaching the code when she posted the team. He added, however, that 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." “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.”