Australian Cricketers Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft have been banned from playing the game by Cricket Australia for what is being referred to as “ball-tampering”. The tampering incident occurred during the third Test against South Africa where Bancroft was said to have damaged the ball using sandpaper. Additionally, Smith and Bancroft have been accused of making “misleading public comments” (fancy words for lying) because they insisted that it was only yellow tape.
All three players have been banned from playing cricket internationally and locally. As part of their punishment, they will also serve around 100 hours of "voluntary service in community cricket".
https://www.mid-day.com/articles/monkeygate-brain-fade-australian-cricketers-and-their-controversies/19245176
This is not the first time that the issue of “ball-tampering” has been a problem in sports. You might remember the Deflate Gate scandal in the American NFL, where the New England Patriots were accused of foul play because 11 of the 12 balls they provided were under-inflated by 2 pounds per square inch. The NBA also had its fair share of ball tampering scandals. In fact, there is a whole slew of ball tampering accusations and analysis some of which can be found here (http://www.inpredictable.com/2017/01/a-deflategate-analysis-for-nba.html)
But all of this just makes me wonder, why can’t these player just leave the ball be and play the game? Why risk getting caught and banned? I should start the #leavetheballalone