WA Cricket high-performance boss Kade Harvey has expressed his disappointment after contracted young gun Sam Fanning copped a lengthy ban over an incident in last weekend’s WA Premier Cricket first-grade decider.

The left-handed opener will have a delayed start to the 2023-24 season after accepting a four-match penalty, to go with a further two weeks suspended, after being cited for tampering with the wicket.

Damning vision emerged of Fanning, who was named player of the final after scoring a brilliant century, getting the spikes of his right shoe into the protected area of the wicket at Lilac Hill at the end of the opening day of Perth’s drought-breaking two-day final victory.

Harvey was “disappointed” to learn of the incident, saying it didn’t reflect the organisation’s values.

It came just hours after he top-scored with a brilliant 123 from 197 balls in Perth’s score of 283, including 16 boundaries, to help his team end a 74-year first-grade two-day premiership drought.

The 22-year-old was charged under section five of the WA District Cricket Council Code of Conduct - players must obey the laws of cricket and play within the spirit of the game.

WATCH THE INCIDENT IN THE PLAYER ABOVE

His ban will not only see him miss the first four games of the Demons’ first-grade defence, but also unavailable for selection for domestic competitions during that time in a massive blow for his hopes of breaking back into the Sheffield Shield side.

WA Cricket will also make Fanning undergo a values-based education and development program.

“WA Cricket expects high standards of behaviour from all contracted players, on and off the field. We were disappointed to learn of the incident involving Sam, which did not reflect our values,” Harvey said.

“Alongside the penalty, we will work with Sam and provide an education and development plan in line with living our values and making better decisions moving forward.”

Fanning is regarded as a talented young player for WA, making the 13-player shield final squad last week before getting overlooked for the XI.

Originally from New South Wales, the former Australian under-19s batter played four shield matches for WA this summer after debuting against his old state at the WACA Ground in early October.

Fanning also scored a half-century in a T20 World Cup warm-up match for WA against India in Perth to go with one against the Blues in his third first-class appearance in Sydney.

He’s spent the past three seasons at the WACA, getting upgraded from a rookie contract to a full contract for the third.