‘I’m not a criminal’: David Warner’s leadership ban set to be overturned

Cricket Australia has ratified a change to its Code of Conduct, opening the door for David Warner to have his leadership ban overturned.

Cricket Australia has ratified a change to its Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, opening the door for David Warner to have his lifetime leadership ban overturned.

The New South Welshman was banned from all captaincy positions following the infamous Cape Town sandpaper incident in 2018.

Since returning to the national side in 2019, there has been growing speculation that Warner’s leadership ban should be revoked, with Test captain Pat Cummins among those supporting the move.

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Last month, the CA Board requested an amendment to the organisation’s Code of Conduct that would allow players and support staff to request for the modification of long-term sanctions.

And on Monday morning, CA confirmed those changes had been accepted and given formal approval following a review by Head of Integrity Jacqui Partridge.

Warner is now permitted to apply for his lifetime ban to be modified before a panel of three code of conduct commissioners, but the 36-year-old will have to demonstrate “remorse” and evidence of improved behaviour to be successful.

Under the previous Code of Conduct, players did not have the right to request for a sanction to be reviewed once it had been accepted.

David Warner of Australia. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Speaking at Kayo event in Melbourne on Monday afternoon, Warner confirmed he would apply to have his lifetime leadership ban lifted, expressing disappointment at how long the process has taken.

“At the end of the day, I’m not a criminal,” he said.

“You should get a right of an appeal at some stage, you know.

“I understand that they put a ban in place, but banning someone for life I think is a bit harsh. So it’s just an opportunity to come out and actually show that I’m actually remorseful. I’ve all done my time to get back into the Australian cricket set up.

“It’s all about me now campaigning, that’s what it looks like, and it’s totally not that.

“It’s frustrating because we could have done this about nine months ago when it was first brought up.

“It‘s a tad disappointing that when you make a decision in 2018, it’s in four days, and then this takes nine months.

“But it’s good to get in a position where we are now today, and it gives me an opportunity to ring up the Integrity Unit and have a word to them and put forward my case.

“It’s been drawn out. It’s traumatic for me and my family and everyone else that was involved in it. We haven’t needed to go back into that detail, we don’t need to relive what happened.

“What happened, happened. We’ve done our best to move on and put our best foot forward and do the best we can for Australian cricket.

“It’s been a challenge, it’s been a difficult process, but I’ll just have to wait and see.”

David Warner of Australia. Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images

Cummins was announced as Australia’s ODI captain last month following Aaron Finch’s retirement, with the paceman leading his country to a six-wicket victory over England in Adelaide on Thursday.

But teammate Josh Hazlewood was given the captaincy duties for the second ODI in Sydney, which Australia won by 72 runs.

The bombshell decision set up a unique blueprint for Australian captaincy ahead of next year’s World Cup in India, developing a leadership group that can rotate the role if required.

Steve Smith and Alex Carey, who have both led the Australian ODI team before, are among the captaincy candidates, and now Warner could also join the list.

“We’ve obviously got Smith, who was vice-captain tonight, and down the chain there’s another couple in the leadership group,” Hazlewood explained to reporters on Saturday.

“So there’s plenty of options there and I felt even out in the middle there were a number of senior players I could talk to and get their opinions.”

Glenn Maxwell, David Warner and Aaron Finch. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Warner is already a respected leader within the national side in an unofficial capacity — he captained Australia in three ODIs in 2016, also leading the Sunrisers Hyderabad to an Indian Premier League title that year.

The talented left-hander will also be eligible to captain the Sydney Thunder in this summer’s Big Bash League if his lifetime ban is successfully revoked.

Warner recently indicated that he intends to play international cricket until the 2024 T20 World Cup, suggesting he may retire from Tests after next year’s Ashes series in England.

“Test cricket will probably be the first one to fall off,” he told Triple M’s Deadset Legends last week.

“Because that’s how it will pan out. The T20 World Cup is in 2024, (one-day) World Cup next year.

“Potentially it could be my last 12 months in Test cricket.

“But I love the white-ball game; it’s amazing.”

The third and final ODI between Australia and England gets underway on Tuesday afternoon, with the first ball scheduled for 2.20pm AEDT.

Originally published as ‘I’m not a criminal’: David Warner’s leadership ban set to be overturned