Source : ESPNcricinfo
The ICC has banned West Indies batter Devon Thomas from all cricket for five years. Thomas accepted breaching seven counts of the anti-corruption codes of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Thomas had been suspended for corruption in May 2023 when he was slapped with seven charges, which included “contriving to fix” matches. The period of ineligibility is backdated to 23 May 2023, when he was provisionally suspended. Thomas accepted breaching the same seven charges of which four were from the SLC anti-corruption code, one from the ECB code, and two from the CPL code.
Calling the five-year ban a “period of ineligibility,” an ICC release stated that “the last 18 months of the period of ineligibility would be suspended.”
Back in 2023, the ICC had stated the charges against Thomas were about his conduct while playing in the LPL, Abu Dhabi T20 and the CPL. The most serious charge against him – of attempting to fix a match – was from the 2021 LPL in which he played just one game for Kandy Warriors.
The four charges under the SLC anti-corruption code were of “contriving or being party to an agreement to fix or attempt to fix, contrive or influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspects of matches”, “failing to disclose […] full details of an approach” to the ACU, “failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to cooperate” in an ACU investigation, and “obstructing or delaying” the investigation by “concealing, tampering with or destroying any documentation or other information”.
The single charge he faced under the ECB code was for failing to disclose details of an approach made to indulge in corrupt conduct during the 2021 edition of Abu Dhabi T10 when he was a part of the Pune Devils team.
The remaining two charges were from the 2022 and 2021 editions of the CPL when he represented St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Barbados Royals. One of the charges was, again, failing to disclose an approach. The second charge is about failing to report the “receipt of any gift, payment, hospitality or benefit (a) that he knew or should have known was made to procure a breach of the CPL Code, or (b) could have brought the player or the game of cricket into disrepute”.
“Having played both international and professional domestic/franchise cricket, Devon attended numerous anti-corruption education sessions,” Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager – Integrity Unit, was quoted as saying in the release. “He therefore knew what his obligations were under the Anti-Corruption Codes but failed to meet these obligations across three different franchise leagues.
“This ban is apt and should send a strong message to players and corrupters that attempts to corrupt our sport will be dealt with firmly.”
Thomas, 34, is primarily a white-ball player having represented West Indies in 21 ODIs and 12 T20Is, from 2009 to 2022, apart from his lone Test in Australia in December 2022. He last played domestic cricket for Leeward Islands in March 2023.