Australian cricket authorities are bracing up for a final round of deliberations on reducing the ball tampering ban on Steven Smith and David Warner, with a face-off against an upbeat India awaiting the weakened home team.

According to Fairfax Media, the CA board will convene a meeting early this week to discuss whether the ban on Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft should be reduced. This comes in the wake of the Australian Cricketers' Association asking for a rethink on the suspension sentences following the Longstaff review, which the ACA said provided new and compelling evidence that CA - and not just the players involved - contributed to the atmosphere that prompted the events of the Cape Town Test in March.