FICA chief calls for education program to prevent ball-tampering

Press Trust of India  |  Melbourne 

Federation of (FICA) has advocated the use of educational programs to check the menace of ball-tampering in the game.

In March, international was plunged into crisis when three Australian players, including and opener David Warner, were banned for their role in ball-tampering during a Test series against

Irish feels increasing penalties will help but the best way to address the problem is to educate the cricketers about the ICC's rules and regulations.

"One of the things that we continue to advocate for is clarity in the rules and consistency in the way issues, including altering the condition of the ball, are dealt with by the ICC," Irish told

"Clearly if the ICC increases penalties, that is one way to send a message.

"Prevention is always better than a cure though and we would like to see global education standards and programs across the game, including on codes and regulations. We have offered to work with the other global bodies, including the ICC, on co-developing and delivering these."

The ICC has added four new code-of-conduct offences and elevated penalties for level three offences, which include Players caught ball-tampering face bans of up to six Tests.

After the infamous Cape Town Test, Smith was suspended by the ICC for one match for "conduct contrary to the spirit of the game", while was fined 75 per cent of his match fee and handed three demerit points. David Warner, had escaped any punishment.

However, Australia later handed Smith and Warner a one-year ban and suspended Bancroft for nine months.

In June, Sri was found guilty of and was given a one-Test ban.

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First Published: Fri, November 09 2018. 13:05 IST