Sydney, April 7 (Cricketnmore) Left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, who grabbed headlines for his performance in the recently-concluded Test rubber against India, is once again in the news, this time after he was on Friday banned for Australia's domestic One-Day Cup and slapped with a $20,000 fine in an alcohol-related incident.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
O'Keefe has been banned for next season's Matador BBQ's One-Day Cup and has been slapped with a $20,000 fine after making "highly inappropriate comments", according to a Cricket Australia (CA) statement .<\/p>\r\n\r\n
CA announced on Friday that O'Keefe had been sanctioned for a level two Code of Conduct offence after the comments while under the influence of alcohol.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The incident occurred after the official ceremonies concluded at the Steve Waugh Medal, the Cricket New South Wales (NSW) end-of-season awards function.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
No hearing was required after O'Keefe accepted the $20,000 fine from CA, while Cricket NSW imposed the additional penalty of excluding him from selection for next year's domestic 50-over tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
O'Keefe will also undergo further appropriate counselling.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"There is no time or place for unacceptable behaviour from any of our players in Australian Cricket, and we continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to this," CA's head of team performance Pat Howard said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We're extremely disappointed this situation occurred, particularly on the back of a previous incident, and it now overshadows Stephen's on field performance on the recent tour of India."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It's the second time in less than a year O'Keefe has landed in hot water for an alcohol-related incident.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In August last year, O'Keefe was handed a $10,000 fine by CA and issued with an Infringement Notice by NSW Police for offensive behaviour and being an excluded person remaining in the vicinity of licensed premises after a night at the The Steyne Hotel in the beachside suburb of Manly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
That incident, which came after the left-armer had flown home from Australia's tour of Sri Lanka with a hamstring injury, led to him quitting alcohol for six months in a bid to return to the Test side.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In a CA statement, O'Keefe expressed remorse for his actions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"At an official Cricket NSW function I became intoxicated and made highly inappropriate comments," the 32-year-old said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"There is no excuse for this and I take full responsibility and offer an unconditional apology. I accept the sanctions imposed by Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW and welcome the chance to receive specialist counselling."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I have a big challenge ahead and I am determined to meet it with actions, not just words. To all of the members of the cricket family I love and respect so much, again, apologies for letting you down," he added.<\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2017\/04\/australian-cricketer-steve-o-keefe.jpg", "alt_img": "Cricket Australia penalises spinner Steve O'Keefe for alcohol-related incident", "alt_title": "Cricket Australia penalises spinner Steve O'Keefe for alcohol-related incident", "image1": "", "video": "", "seo_title": "Cricket Australia penalises spinner Steve O'Keefe for alcohol-related incident", "seo_desc": "Sydney, April 7 (Cricketnmore) Left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, who grabbed headlines for his performance in the recently-concluded Test rubber against India, i", "seo_keywords": " Steve O'Keefe, Cricket Australia", "tag": "", "tagging": "", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "0", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": "0", "slug": "cricket-australia-penalises-spinner-steve-o-keefe-for-alcohol-related-incident", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": "0000-00-00", "ians_time": "00:00:00", "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "trash": "0", "view_count": "1981", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "0", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2017-04-07 12:34:00", "updated": "2017-04-07 12:34:00", "img_from": "", "img_source": "", "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "news_keywords": null, "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "1", "jio_date": "2017-04-07 12:34:00", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": "2017-04-07 12:34:00", "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": null, "article_content_type": null, "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/cricket-australia-penalises-spinner-steve-o-keefe-for-alcohol-related-incident-25424" }