What Cameron Bancroft and the Australian team did in Cape Town over the weekend was wrong, stupid and staggeringly naive. There is no place for it in cricket and all three will rightly serve whatever punishment comes their way from Cricket Australia.

Bancroft's punishment should not, however, in my opinion, include the cancelling of his Somerset contract.

There are concerns, of course, as much of a practical nature as morally - will he be in the right frame of mind to score runs here, would his presence serve as a distraction and is there time to sort a feasible replacement? Despite these, I believe the batsman should be given the chance to prove himself at the County Ground.

The actions seen in South Africa that have appalled so many were the product of an Australian team which has for too long been allowed to operate in their own moral sphere, drawing and then re-drawing 'the line' where they see fit.

Bancroft is a relative newcomer to this team, led by a culture of toxic masculinity and a belief they could get away with anything. In this context it is understandable that Bancroft chose to act as he did.

He is not a kid, he is 25, but in international cricketing terms he is a novice fighting hard to retain his place - if he had refused to act on the instructions of the all-powerful 'leadership team' his future in the side would have been uncertain.

Plenty will, quite understandably, say 'so what' and argue integrity should come above a place in the team. But I suspect that is easier said than done in the face of characters like Darren Lehmann, David Warner and Steve Smith, who until this weekend could do no wrong in the eyes of many Australian supporters.

Making the novice carry out the act says as much about those in charge of the Australian team as anything else in this scandal. As Australian cricket writer Geoff Lemon put it on Twitter: "Smith has Bancroft face the first question. Warner has Bancroft face the first ball. Leadership team."

Smith and Warner saw Bancroft as a dispensable player who could carry out their dirty work and, though of course he didn't have to, he should be afforded a certain amount of leniency in this respect.

Then there is the issue of ball tampering being relatively commonplace. Players have been charged before, and recently too.

If Somerset had re-signed Vurnon Philander - who was fined 75% of his match fee for ball tampering while playing for South Africa in 2014 - would there be similar outrage?

The quality of the player should not determine what behaviour can and cannot be tolerated, and there is a sense some are willing to dispense with Bancroft as much because they are underwhelmed by his signing than because of his actions this week.

He will face a challenging atmosphere if and when he does arrive in Taunton, having foregone in some quarters the friendly reception that would usually be afforded by supporters to a new overseas player. Some may even be willing him to fail and if he does find himself dropped on form grounds - or perhaps forced to start the season out the side and force his way in - then so be it, but he should be given an opportunity.

The reaction from some quarters has also been so far over the top as to be laughable, with politicians as ever holding sportsmen to a higher moral code than they hold themselves.

The refugees currently detained in camps awaiting entry into Australia, for example, must be delighted to learn that scuffing a cricket ball is what it takes to get the Prime Minister riled. The ICC punishments are too lenient, but calls for lifetime bans are equally too harsh in the other direction.

There's a case to be made that it's not even the worst thing to happen in cricket this week - limiting the World Cup to 10 teams, denying as it has the opportunity for the game to grow in countries from Scotland and Ireland to Nepal and the UAE, will arguably do more damage to the long-term health of cricket around the world. 

Somerset have taken a sensible approach so far, keeping both their options open and fans in the loop.

It would be understandable were they to cancel the deal, or perhaps issue a suspension of their own, but I think a spell in the county game (relatively) out the spotlight under a rather less belligerent 'leadership team' could benefit Bancroft and, by extension, Somerset.

It would also act as an ideal way of resurrecting a career which, despite this grave error of judgment, should not be terminally cut short.