RA said Stannard and a group of players and team management had been at a fast-food outlet following the dinner for departing coach Andy Friend when the alleged attack occurred.

Two players in the squad, including the side’s regular captain Lewis Holland, and Friend detained the man shortly afterwards and held him until police arrived, RA said.

Police said the incident happened at about 3.10am outside a kebab shop in Coogee, a coastal suburb of Sydney, when he was “punched in the head in an alleged unprovoked assault”.

Stannard was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital in the city centre where he was understood to be “in a stable condition with head injuries”.

The suspect had been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The Briton has been bailed on “strict” conditions until an appearance at Waverley Local Court on April 19.

Stannard, who competed for Australia at the 2016 Olympics, was made captain of Australia’s Commonwealth Games side earlier this month after skipper Lewis Holland was ruled out due to a hamstring injury.

Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft have been suspended by Cricket Australia for the fourth Test in Johannesburg for their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal.

After a CA investigation, all three players were found guilty of breaching article 2.3.5 of Cricket Australia’s Code of Conduct and will fly home from South Africa on Wednesday (South Africa time).  

Smith has also been stripped of the captaincy for at least the final Test in South Africa, with Tim Paine endorsed by the board as his successor and Australia’s 46th Test captain after he acted in the role on day four in Cape Town.

Queensland pair Matthew Renshaw and Joe Burns, and Victoria’s Glenn Maxwell have been called up as replacements for the banned trio and will arrive in South Africa in the next 24 hours. The Australians will not train in Johannesburg on Wednesday. 

“Earlier today (Tuesday), I received an update about the investigation being conducted by our Head of Integrity Iain Roy and in conducting his interviews he was accompanied by two ICC integrity officers,” Sutherland told reporters in Johannesburg.

“While that investigation is not complete, preliminary findings have been considered and discussed by the CA board earlier today.

“The key finding is that prior knowledge of the ball tampering incident was limited to three players: Captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

“No other players or support staff had prior knowledge and this includes Darren Lehmann, who despite inaccurate media reports, has not resigned from his position.

“He will continue to coach the Australian men’s team under his current contract.”

Sutherland said that Smith, Warner and Bancroft have been charged with CA Code of Conduct breaches and added their respective, “significant” sanctions will be revealed in the next 24 hours.

“The players involved have officially been reported for breaching Cricket Australia’s code of conduct under article 2.3.5.,” Sutherland said.

“The substance of the offence can be covered by terms and I paraphrase somewhat from the article: Conduct at any time that is contrary to the spirit of the game, unbecoming of a representative, harmful to the interests of the game, or brings the game into disrepute.

“Once the investigation has concluded in the next 24 hours, sanctions will be announced and will go through the Cricket Australia code of conduct process.”

Smith had already been suspended for the final Test at The Wanderers by International Cricket Council CEO David Richardson on Sunday, while Bancroft was fined and handed three demerit points to his disciplinary record.

All three players now face lengthy bans from international cricket.

The incident that led to the suspensions took place during South Africa’s innings on Saturday afternoon when Bancroft was seen on television holding a foreign object while rubbing the ball, before hiding the object in his pocket, then inside his trousers.

As soon as the incident was shown on the big screen, the player was questioned in the presence of his captain by the two on-field umpires, Richard Illingworth and Nigel Llong, who along with third umpire Ian Gould and fourth umpire Allahudien Palekar, later charged Bancroft.

The umpires inspected the ball at that time and elected not to replace the ball and award a five-run penalty as they could not see any marks that suggested the condition of the ball had been changed as a direct result of Bancroft’s actions. The umpires, though, agreed that Bancroft’s actions were likely to alter the condition of the ball and he was therefore charged.

The plan to alter the condition of the ball had been made at the lunch break on day three between senior players from Australia without the consent of the coaching staff, according to Smith.

Bancroft, who was said to be in the vicinity of the senior players at lunch, was tasked to use the foreign item – a piece of yellow tape that was used to collect chunks of dislodged pitch – and was caught doing so.

Match referee Andy Pycroft said: “To carry a foreign object on to the field of play with the intention of changing the condition of the ball to gain an unfair advantage over your opponent is against not only the Laws, but the Spirit of the game as well.

“That said, I acknowledge that Cameron has accepted responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty to the charge and apologising publicly. As a young player starting out in international cricket, I hope the lessons learned from this episode will strongly influence the way he plays the game during the rest of his career.”

Smith has not missed a Test since March 2013 in India, a streak of 59 matches in which he scored 23 Test centuries, was handed the Test captaincy and ascended to the top of the Test batting rankings.

He fronted the media on Saturday night and confessed his regret and part in the wrongdoing.

“Obviously, today was a big mistake on my behalf and on the leadership group’s behalf as well,” he said.

“But I take responsibility as the captain, I need to take control of the ship, but this is certainly something I’m not proud of and something that I hope I can learn from and come back strong from.

“I am embarrassed to be sitting here talking about this.”

Qantas tour of South Africa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de Kock, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, AB de Villiers.

Australia squad: Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match: Australia beat South Africa A by five wickets. Report, highlights

First Test Australia won by 118 runs. Scorecard

Second Test South Africa won by six wickets. Scorecard

Third Test South Africa won by 322 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3. Live coverage

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Getty Images

Australian rugby union player Karmichael Hunt has avoided a conviction after a cocaine possession charge against him was dropped.

Hunt was arrested in Brisbane in December on the cocaine charge and a second count of possessing the prescription drug Xanax.

On Monday, the Wallabies player was fined a total of A$600 (£340; $475) over the second change and for failing to turn up to a police station.

His playing future remains unclear.

Prosecutors dropped the charge of cocaine possession due to a lack of evidence, local media reported.

Hunt’s lawyer, Adam Magill, argued in court that a conviction would have limited the rugby player’s movements in Australia and overseas.

The lawyer said Hunt had taken a tablet of Xanax from his partner to offset stress and to help him sleep.

He had failed to report to police for fingerprinting within seven days of being charged because he wanted to avoid media representatives outside his house, Mr Magill said.

Hunt was stood down by his team, Queensland Reds, immediately after the charges were laid on 30 December. The team and Rugby Australia did not immediately comment on Monday.

A former rugby league and Australian Rules football player, Hunt played six Tests for the Wallabies last year after making his debut against Fiji in June.

In 2015, Hunt received a six-week suspension and a A$30,000 ($23,400; £17,300) fine for cocaine possession.

Suspended England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been withdrawn from the squad for this month’s five-match one-day international series against Australia and was replaced by batsman Dawid Malan, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Monday.

Stokes, who was provisionally named in England’s squad, is awaiting a decision on whether he will be charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for his involvement in an altercation outside a Bristol nightclub in September.

The ECB said he would not travel with the group of players leaving for Australia on Tuesday and his availability will depend on CPS advice.

“Should ECB receive formal confirmation that he has either, a) been charged or, b) will face no charges, the ECB board would convene within 48 hours to make a decision on his availability to represent England at that stage,” said the ECB on ecb.co.uk.

The ECB said Stokes has been cleared to participate in the player draft for the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament.

The first one-day international between Australia and England will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on January 14th.

– (Reuters)