Australian Cricketer Banned For Tampering The Pitch

Western Australian batter Sam Fanning has been banned for four matches for tampering with the pitch in the WA Premier League final at Perth,

The tournament sees teams play two-day matches. The final for the 2022-23 season was played between Perth Cricket Club and Bayswater-Morley District Cricket Club. 22-year-old Fanning, who plays for Perth, scored 123 runs while batting. His innings helped his side end a 74-year title drought.

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During the match, Fanning was seen digging his spikes into the protected area of the pitch on Day 1. For this discretion, he has been handed a 4-match ban, which will make him unavailable for the start of the 2023-34 Australian domestic season.

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“WA Cricket expects high standards of behavior from all contracted players, on and off the field. We were disappointed to learn of the incident involving Sam, which did not reflect our values,” Western Australian Cricket’s General Manager of High-Performance Kade Harvey said in a statement.

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Pitch tampering/damaging the pitch, rules, and penalties explained

Pitch tampering/damaging the pitch is an illegal action under Law 41.12 (fielder) and 41.13 (bowler of Marylebone Cricket Club’s (MCC) book of laws. This prevents a bowler or a fielder from deliberately tampering with the protected area of the pitch.

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The protected area of the pitch is a strip that runs between the two sets of stumps. This is the area where the ball pitches on most occasions, making any damage to the area not only unfair but also unsafe for the batters.

Causing deliberate damage to this area can result in different penalties depending on who is doing so. If a fielder damages the pitch, the batting team is awarded 5 runs. While if the bowler does so thrice, they will be taken off the balling attack and cannot bowl in that inning going forward.

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If a batter enters the protected area multiple times after warnings, the fielding team too can receive 5-runs under laws 41.14.3 and 31.15.3

Any bans imposed upon the players would be imposed by the match referee or the cricket board in some cases.

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