Sydney Thunder sack BBL import after Cricket Australia investigation

Sydney Thunder have terminated Afghan international Fazalhaq Farooqi’s BBL contract following an incident that was referred to Cricket Australia’s (CA) integrity unit.

The Thunder and Cricket NSW released a statement on Friday afternoon saying they received “a complaint about the behaviour of Farooqi” regarding an incident last week.

CA’s integrity unit launched an investigation, with its conduct commissioner holding a hearing.

Following the investigation and hearing, the Thunder made the decision to terminate Farooqi’s contract.

“The behaviours displayed by Fazalhaq Farooqi sit outside our values and it was determined that his contract be terminated,” Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon said in a statement.

“Our focus now is providing the necessary support to those affected by this incident.”

CA said the details of the matter were “confidential” and it supported the Thunder’s decision.

The Thunder had recruited Farooqi to play in the opening nine rounds of the BBL.

However, he only made three appearances for the club, including last Friday’s match against the Adelaide Strikers when they were dismissed for just 15 runs.

Farooqi has played 17 T20I and 10 ODI matches for Afghanistan.

The fast-medium bowler represented Afghanistan in the recent men’s T20 World Cup, which was hosted by Australia.