James Faulkner, Australia’s man of the match in the World Cup final, has been suspended for four international matches and will not be considered for the limited overs matches that follow the Ashes.
While playing for Lancashire, Faulkner crashed his car after a night out drinking in Manchester with his Tasmania teammate Tim Paine and was found to have been more than twice over the legal blood alcohol limit.
Faulkner spent the night in the custody of Manchester police and will face court on July 21. However, Cricket Australia have acted swiftly under the board’s code of conduct to suspend the allrounder.
His ban covers the match against Ireland, plus the Twenty20 and first two ODIs against England. Faulkner had been warned that a suspension would effectively rule him out of the tour.
It is another blow to the tourists and a help to England’s chances of maintaining their upward curve in the short formats, begun against New Zealand.
Team performance manager Pat Howard said Faulkner had accepted his penalty.
“James has acknowledged the seriousness of his actions and has accepted the penalties handed down today,” he said. “He has cooperated fully with the disciplinary procedure and is deeply remorseful.
“We have reminded James that his actions had serious potential to cause harm to him and others. Aside from the suspension handed down, he has been formally reprimanded for his behaviour.
“In saying that, we do acknowledge that James has been a player with a good track record and we would like to think that this episode is very much out of character.”
Howard and CA also expressed disappointment in Paine, who was also in the car with Faulkner at the time.
