Suspended Aussie captain Smith to join Caribbean T20 league

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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) Suspended Australia captain Steve Smith has signed with the Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League as a replacement for Shakib Al Hasan.

Smith is serving a 12-month ban imposed by Cricket Australia for his role in a ball-tampering scandal during a test series in South Africa in March that plunged his national team into disarray.

The world's No. 1-ranked test cricket batsman is barred from playing first-class cricket for his country or his province but is allowed to play at the club level and has recently participated in a Twenty20 competition in Canada.

The Barbados Tridents announced Smith's signing on Wednesday for the Aug. 8-Sept. 16 CPL, a six-team franchise-based Twenty20 league that launched in 2013.

Tridents coach Robin Singh says it was a setback to lose Bangladesh allrounder Al Hasan ''but in Steve Smith we have a truly world-class replacement who can help to bring power to our batting lineup.''

The Tridents open against Guyana's Amazon Warriors on Aug. 12 and will play Jamacia's Tallawahs in Lauderhill, Fla., before returning to Barbados for five games.