Shawdesh desk:

Cricket Australia said it had recorded an operating surplus of 18.2 million Australian dollars ($12.3 million) in a year of “healing” following the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

That amount in the 2018-19 financial year was nearly double the operating surplus from the previous 12 months, the annual general meeting was told Thursday.

It said there had been a dramatic improvement in player behavior — code of conduct charges dropped 74% at all levels from national teams to country competitions.

In March 2018, then-test captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were suspended for the roles they played in a plot to alter the condition of the ball by using sandpaper during a test match in Cape Town against South Africa.

“The past year has been a time of healing for Australian cricket,” Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings wrote in the annual report. “We have focused on building a purpose-led culture … following a challenging 12 months.

“Australia’s men’s team has shown their commitment to restoring their connection with each other and the Australian public. It was a year which redefined the way Australia would play, in a spirit the whole country can be proud of.”

The annual report also said that during the 2018-19 season, more than 2.16 million people attended international, one-day and Twenty20 men’s and women’s matches, a record figure in a non-Ashes year.