Allan Border attacks Shahid Afridi's ball tampering ban

Shahid Afridi was suspended for two Twenty20 internationals
10 April 2012

Former Australia captain Allan Border has slammed Shahid Afridi's two-match ban for ball tampering, claiming the International Cricket Council should have punished the Pakistan all-rounder more severely.

Afridi was suspended for two Twenty20 internationals following Sunday's two-wicket defeat to Australia in the fifth and final match of the Commonwealth Bank Series, a loss that condemned the tourists to a 5-0 series whitewash.

The fast-scoring batsman, who was a key player as South Australia reached the final of the Big Bash only to miss the decider because of international duty, bit the ball in an attempt to give his team an advantage.

But while the move backfired with the ball immediately changed during the game and Afridi later suspended for two matches, ruling him out of Friday's Twenty20 international at the MCG, Border wasn't satisfied with the punishment.

"It wasn't enough given that he's been a bit of a serial offender in front of ICC disciplinary committees," Border said on Fox Sports show Inside Cricket last night.

"You've got to send a strong message out that you just don't want this sort of stuff happening on field.

"(Send a warning to players that) you're not going to get away with it, (there were) 26 cameras at the ground or something like that so yeah, (I think it was) very underdone as far as that penalty (goes)."

While the penalty Afridi received was the maximum available to match referee Ranjan Madugalle, this incident is the third indiscretion in Afridi's career, the 29-year-old having twice previously fallen foul of the ICC.

In November 2005 he was suspended for one Test and two ODIs after being found guilty of scuffing the pitch during a Test match against England while 15 months later he was banned for four ODIs after an incident in which he waved his bat in a threatening manner towards a spectator who abused him in South Africa.

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