• Cameron Bancroft banned for nine months and all three sent home • Cricket Australia: ‘Cheating probably an appropriate word’

David Warner was revealed as the architect of Australia’s ball-tampering plot and left staring at the end of his international career following publication of the damning charge sheet against the three players involved.

Both Warner and Steve Smith have been hit with year-long suspensions, along with nine months for Cameron Bancroft, as Cricket Australia imposed draconian sanctions for “cheating” and “damaging” the sport during the defeat against South Africa in the third Test at Newlands.

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While such hefty punishments were expected after Bancroft, in the full knowledge of his captain and vice-captain, was caught on camera trying to scuff the ball, the details of the deception went further than previously known.

In announcing the outcomes from their investigation, which included the Test captain Smith being barred from leadership roles for two years and Warner for the rest of his career, with 100 hours of community service for all three, Cricket Australia found the greatest level of misconduct to have come from the latter.

Amid a 1,000-word media release, it was concluded that the plan hatched during the lunch interval of the third day had been the brainchild of Warner, who directly instructed Bancroft to damage the ball using sandpaper.

That material – rather than sticky tape rolled in grit, as Bancroft previously claimed – pointed to a greater level of premeditation, with Warner also teaching his “junior” team-mate and opening partner how best to use it in an attempt to extract reverse swing from the ball.

Smith was charged with having full knowledge of this dressing-room tutorial but failing to act, along with lying to the umpires when they challenged Bancroft on the field.

The latter was accused of the same, having produced the cloth he uses for cleaning his sunglasses rather than the sandpaper he had hidden down the front of his trousers following a tip-off from the 12th man, Peter Handscomb.

Quick guide Australia ball-tampering bans – the key points Show Hide • Cameron Bancroft is suspended for nine months from all international and domestic cricket.

• David Warner cannot return to a captaincy role in future. Steve Smith and Bancroft cannot hold leadership roles for the first 12 months after the end of their suspensions.

• All three players are encouraged to return to club cricket, and required to complete 100 hours of voluntary service in community cricket.

• Cricket Australia insists prior knowledge of the ball-tampering incident in the third Test against South Africa was limited to Smith, Warner and Bancroft.

• The material used to tamper with the ball has been confirmed as sandpaper, not sticky tape covered in dirt from the pitch, as Bancroft had previously claimed.

• Warner devised the plan, provided Bancroft with a demonstration of how to tamper with the ball, then later concealed his plan from match officials.

• Smith was charged with knowledge of the ball-tampering plan, directing Bancroft to conceal the evidence on the field - and then attempting to mislead match officials and the public through his explanation of events.

• Bancroft carried out instructions to attempt tampering with the ball, then sought to conceal evidence, before aiming to mislead match officials and the public as to his actions.

Smith’s and Bancroft’s self-immolating press conference after stumps, where the former first spoke of “the leadership group” being involved, was also deemed to have misled the public, while Warner was accused of being untruthful with the match referee, Andy Pycroft, during his inquiry into events.

Holding his second media conference in the space of 24 hours, the Cricket Australia chief executive, James Sutherland, reiterated that knowledge of the plan was confined to just these three individuals, clearing the head coach, Darren Lehmann, and the remaining members of the squad and support staff. Explaining the severity of the punishment, compared with the one-match suspension handed down to Smith by the ICC, he said: “Clearly this has caused a huge amount of damage for the game of cricket as a whole.”

Asked if he would now call it cheating, having evaded the term on Tuesday evening, Sutherland replied: “People want to use their own words, but cheating is certainly one of them that is probably appropriate in the circumstances.”

Play Video 0:58 Cricket Australia CEO: Cheating is an appropriate word to use – video

Sutherland went on to stress the punishments handed down reflected the level of deceit and, in the case of Smith and Warner, the failure to show leadership. It was a case of misconduct, he insisted, rather than ball-tampering per se.

While Lehmann’s role will be reviewed as part of a wider look into the Australian team’s culture, the three players central to this particular incident – concluded to be a one-off by Iain Roy, the head of integrity who investigated it – must now look to rebuild their careers and the trust of the public.

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All three have the option to appeal against their suspensions and face a hearing in front of an independent commissioner. But given the outpouring of anger in Australia, one that has seen sponsors up in arms and even the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, get involved, they would face a struggle.

As well as being forced to sit out all but club cricket during the next Australian summer, Smith and Warner have also lost £1.3m in earnings apiece after the BCCI barred them from taking up their respective deals at Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League this year.

County cricket could be one avenue for them – Bancroft is already signed to play for Somerset – although the England and Wales Cricket Board was seeking clarification from its Australian counterpart as to whether the three would be eligible under the terms of their suspensions.

Play Video 1:23 A brief history of ball-tampering – video

If Smith’s demise is the one that has broken hearts in Australia, given the 28-year-old’s golden boy image and status as the world’s No 1 Test batsman, then Warner’s ascent back to international level is the hardest to envisage. The Test captaincy he has long coveted, something that prompted his trying to address his “Bull” persona, is now gone forever and at 31 a future career as a Twenty20 specialist may well be on the cards should he find any suitors.

At board level Warner has few allies, having been the most vocal player during the pay dispute that rocked Australian cricket last year and having made threats that included strike action during the Ashes series that followed. Certainly the mood in the Australian camp appeared to turn against Warner during the investigation, with the seamers Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc reported to have sought union help after he allegedly tried to incriminate them.