Wednesday 25 July 2018 15:36, UK
Former Australia captain Steve Smith will join the Barbados Tridents to be part of their 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League squad.
He replaces Shakib Al Hasan who was ruled out of the tournament. No reasons were given for Bangladesh international Shakib's withdrawal from contention for Barbados.
Cricket Australia (CA) handed Smith a 12-month suspension from international and state-level cricket following an investigation but the ban does not extend to domestic tournaments outside their home nation.
The batsman has featured in the Global T20 Canada competition since being suspended by Cricket Australia and he will resume his career when the Tridents face the Guyana Amazon Warriors on August 12.
Tridents coach Robin Singh said: "It is a huge blow to lose Shakib for the tournament but in Steve Smith we have a truly world-class replacement who can help to bring power to our batting line-up.
"As a man who has played cricket at the highest level all over the world we are very confident that Smith will be a big success with the Tridents."
In late March, then-Australia skipper Smith and his vice-captain David Warner were stripped of their positions and handed one-year bans after opening batsman Cameron Bancroft attempted to alter the condition of the ball with sandpaper against South Africa in Cape Town.
Bancroft, 25, was banned for nine months and coach Darren Lehmann stepped down over the incident.
