Katich’s opinion is in direct contradiction with the view of the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), who have stated that the bans should be immediately lifted, an opinion that former national coach Darren Lehmann also agrees with.

Their ACA’s stance came after the release of the ‘Longstaff report’ that looked into the culture of the Australian game. The report cited longstanding systemic issues as a cause of the ball-tampering scandal. For the ACA, this, to a degree, absolves the trio of guilt and is their justification for calling for an end to their bans.

[caption id=”attachment_86060″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] The trio were banned after Australia’s third Test against South Africa earlier this year[/caption]

Katich, a former teammate of all three players, thinks that nothing will come from an early lifting of the bans.

“I think the players should see out their bans … They admitted what they did was wrong, and they blatantly cheated,” Katich told SEN. “I think the public will be disappointed to think they could get away with what they did just because of what this review has found.

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“They have to be responsible for their actions, regardless of what is going on in the background with the administrators and the culture that’s been created.”

Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban from international and state cricket, while Smith and Warner were handed year-long bans and were stripped of the captaincy and vice-captaincy respectively.