London :Australian batsman David Warner and Steve Smith who have been out in the cold due to their year-long bans from international and domestic cricket following the ball tampering scandal in South Africa, could be back in action soon according to reports.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Surrey coach Michael Di Venuto is interested in signing at least one of the two. The Surrey man, remember used to be the Australian batting coach until 2016.
Once the punishments were in place, Cameron Bancroft, who was handed a nine-month sentence saw his County contract with Somerset cancelled while, Smith and Warner also lost their IPL with Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderbad.
The trio are only allowed to play grade cricket in Australia. The punishment imposed though does not restrict them from playing overseas, but it would require the approval of, in this case, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
In the present situation, none of the three would get a chance to play any first class cricket before the World Cup and Di Venuto believes County Cricket will only help them.
“From an Australian perspective, it is probably important that they play a bit of cricket at some stage,” Di Venuto said.
“I don’t know if they are allowed to play in this competition.”
One of the overseas signings for the season for Surrey was Mitch March, but he has been ruled out due to an injury, while the South African opener Dean Elgar was signed by the club for April and May. Indian captain Virat Kohli is the overseas player for Surrey in the month of June.
In the 2019 ICC World Cup, Australia will defend their title, after which they will look to win a first Ashes away from home since 2001.
“I know what it states in their sanctions that they can’t play domestic cricket in Australia.
“We have got a relationship with Mitch to see how he goes with his ankle but we have got a spot we have got to fill as well.
“So, if they are in the right mental state to play cricket and the ECB will have to allow it to start with, then we’d be mad not to look at some of the world’s best players potentially playing.”
