Fairfax Media understands the starting point of the six-hour discussions was a 24-month suspension however consideration was given to whether the players would be able to resurrect their careers. The three key criteria considered by CA's directors were what happened on the field, the press conference at the end of play and the damage to the sport and brand. As it stands, Smith and Warner will miss the entire 2018/19 domestic and international season, leaving them with little time to press their cases for selection in Australia's squads for the World Cup and Ashes to be held in 2019. Bancroft is free to play most of next summer's Big Bash and the second half of the Sheffield Shield but, as a player who had established himself at international level, faces a difficult task climbing back up the ladder. Suspended: Smith and Warner have been banned for a year, while Bancroft received nine months.

The governing body, already reeling from the damage done to the reputation of the game in this country, was dealt another blow on Thursday when major sponsor Magellan pulled out of a three-year deal, believed to be worth an estimated $20 million, after just one summer. Warner and Bancroft lost their endorsements with sporting goods manufacturer Asics on Thursday while health food company Sanitarium parted ways with Smith. Warner has also been told by electronics provider LG he would not get a new deal. The players union issued a statement on Thursday night outlining a "number of glaring and clear anomalies in the process to date which causes the ACA to query the severity and proportionality of the proposed sanctions". CA's penalties dwarfed those meted out by the International Cricket Council, which docked Smith his entire match fee and suspended him for a Test and fined Bancroft 75 per cent of his match fee. The ACA is concerned the board deliberated on the penalties and that CA has not commented publicly on the environment during the controversial series in South Africa.

Smith, Warner and Bancroft received widespread support from past players who believe the punishments from CA were over the top. Former leg-spin great Shane Warne believed the board had bowed to "hysteria". Loading

"Their actions were indefensible, and they need to be severely punished," Warne, who was given a one-year ban by the then Australian Cricket Board for taking a banned drug in 2003, wrote in a column on his official Facebook page. "But I don't think a one-year ban is the answer. "My punishment would have been to miss the fourth Test match, a huge fine, and be sacked as captain and vice-captain. "There is no way you can condone it ... but the jump to hysteria is something that has elevated the offence beyond what they actually did. "Maybe we're at a point where the punishment just might not fit the crime."