Garamuts 10 cop 12-month bans

Cricket Papua New Guinea (CPNG) yesterday announced that 10 players from the Under-19 team have been suspended from international cricket for 12 months following an International Cricket Council (ICC) breach at the recent Under-19 Cricket World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifiers in Japan.
The players will also be suspended from playing domestic cricket for the remainder of 2019.
As part of the sanction imposed by the CPNG board, the suspended players will also undertake 60 hours of community service and take part in a counselling programme with either a qualified counsellor or village elder.
CPNG chief executive Greg Campbell said: “On behalf of CPNG, I would like to offer our full and sincere apologies to the ICC, Japan Cricket Association and all of the other teams playing in the event.
“The behaviour of our players is not what we would expect from international cricketers of any age.
“The players have expressed sincere regret at their actions and in addition to their suspension from cricket, they will undertake a comprehensive rehabilitation programme over the next 12 months, supported by CPNG.
“Our thanks go to our friends at the Japan Cricket Association for being such wonderful hosts and I would like to assure all Japanese cricket fans that this behaviour is not reflective of our sport. Congratulations to Japan on qualifying for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup for the first time and we wish the whole team the very best for the event.”
ICC general counsel and chief operating officer Iain Higgins added: “This has been a highly unusual incident by a group of young players and I would like to thank CPNG for acting swiftly and decisively.
“It sends out a clear message that the sport will not tolerate this sort of behaviour at ICC events.
“We are obviously extremely disappointed with the behaviour of the players, but we are satisfied that Cricket PNG has delivered a suitable and proportionate sanction and programme for rehabilitation.
Therefore, the ICC will not take any further action against any of the players.
Campbell also said: “Although CPNG are disappointed with recent events, we will continue to work with these young men and look forward to their return to cricket following their suspension.
“We hope to see them in national colours again, sharing the lessons they have learnt with teammates on the standards and expectations when representing their country.”
According to RNZ, Campbell said: “They were caught doing some stealing, which is a no-crime policy in Japan,” he said.
“It’s not as bad as people said but our point of view, my point of view and the board’s point of view is it doesn’t matter whether it’s one item or 10 items — it’s the same crime.
“They’ve got no charges laid against them — everything has been cleared.
“We got all the items back, we paid for them at the shops they were taken (from) and donated to charity, is what I can gather from our team manager, and the shopkeeper didn’t press any further and they left the country so they have no charges against them whatsoever.”