Steve Smith Named As Marquee Player In Canadian T20 Tournament

Steve Smith, former Australia captain, is set to return to cricket with the inaugural Global T20 Canada tournament in Toronto. The tainted Australian skipper was on Thursday named among the marquee players for the Canadian T20 tournament. The Canadian tournament will be held at Maple Leaf Cricket Club near Toronto from June 28-July 15 and feature six teams representing Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton and Winnipeg along with a Caribbean side. Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Dwayne Bravo, Lasith Malinga, Chris Lynn, Darren Sammy, David Miller, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were also named as marquee players.

A player draw will be held on May 30 for the selection of the teams.

Smith, ICC's No.1-ranked Test batsman, was sacked and sent home in disgrace following a ball-tampering row during the third Test between Australia and South Africa in March.

Cricket Australia banned handed Smith a 12-month ban from all international and domestic games for his role in the ball-tampering scandal.

Cricket Australia told AFP Smith had the support of the governing body to play in the Canadian event.

He had been on a USD 1.9 million contract with Indian Premier League (IPL) side Rajasthan Royals but stepped down amid the scandal.

David Warner, who was the vice-captain, was also banned for 12 months and Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months.

Warner is set to make a return to the field in September with Sydney's Randwick Petersham. Bancroft was last week cleared to play club cricket in Western Australia.

(With AFP Inputs)