The Scorchers won the BBL in 2014 and 2015

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Cricket Australia have fined the Perth Scorchers $150,000, with $145,000 suspended, for surpassing the Big Bash League (BBL) salary cap.

The suspended $145,000 will only be taken from the Scorchers if they breach the salary cap again in the next five years.

The Scorchers were hit with a fine by Cricket Australia’s code of conduct senior commissioner the Honourable Gordon Lewis AM as they exceeded their 2015/16 salary cap of $1.3 million by $5,000.

It was the BBL franchise themselves that reported the breach to Cricket Australia after they realised that an error had been made in regards to their spending.

“Following a thorough investigation, we understand that this was not a purposeful breaching of the rules by the Perth Scorchers, and this has been taken into account for the purpose of fixing an appropriate penalty,” Cricket Australia’s head of integrity Iain Roy said.

“We do however take a proactive, zero-tolerance approach to maintaining the integrity of our sport and this includes any breaches of salary caps in the BBL.

“The Perth Scorchers understand the seriousness of this error and have accepted the fine imposed by Commissioner Lewis and we thank them for working with us during this investigation. This serves as a timely reminder that the integrity of our game is a high priority and we won’t accept this being compromised.”