Ball-tampering investigation was badly handled, the 3 players were treated despicably: David Warner's manager

David Warner's manager James Erskine said his client, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were not treated properly during the investigation into the ball-tampering scandal and said the punishment handed to them did not "fit the crime".

David Warner's manager James Erskine on Monday lashed out at Cricket Australia's investigation of the ball-tampering scandal, saying the 3 players, including former captain Steve Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft, who were punished were treated in a "despicable" manner during the investigation. Erskine said the investigation conducted was "a joke" and that the committee did not interview all the players after Bancroft was caught on camera using sandpaper on a cricket ball during a Test match against South Africa in Newlands in 2018. Bancroft, Warner and Smith were handed one-year bans by Cricket Australia. It emerged that Warner had told Bancroft to tamper the ball while Smith, the then captain, did not do anything to stop the infamous tactic being employed during the Test. The ball-tampering scandal from 2018 has once again come into the spotlight after Bancroft hinted earlier this month that Australian bowlers were also aware of the ball-tampering tactics during the Test in South Africa.