David Warner resists big money to tell all about Sandpapergate
Banned cricketer David Warner has had millions of dollars offered to him during his year out of the game but there is a reason he has maintained his silence, writes Jessica Halloran.
Over $2 million in offers have been made to David Warner to break his silence about what really happened in Sandpapergate.
There was the £1 million casually offered by a UK reality show.
Then there was Channel 10’s ‘The Project’ who wanted to do an exclusive sit-down interview with Warner about Cape Town’s events. Those close to the cricketer say the deal tabled is understood to be well over $400,000.
There were the ‘name your price’ approaches from current affairs programs like 60 Minutes and Sunday Night. Then there were magazines offering up $40,000 to $50,000 to do a story on the Warner ‘home life’ in his year out of the game.
He’s turned down the millions and Warner has maintained, surprisingly to some, a dignified silence when they expected him to “explode” publicly.
That is to “tell all” or “snitch” after being named as the man “at the heart” of the ball-tampering scandal.
There have been certainly times he could have understandably spoken up about the events in Cape Town over the last 12 months during his ban.
Like when last December, in an exclusive Fox Sports interview, Cameron Bancroft said Warner had been the man who had encouraged him to use the sandpaper to get it to reverse swing and that he “didn’t know any better” — Warner stayed silent.
When Smith fronted up to a press conference last December and said, “I walked past something and had the opportunity to stop it. I didn’t do it and that was my leadership failure” — Warner didn’t say a thing.
While the other banned players have made references to the specifics of Sandpapergate, Warner has instead focused on the positives he’s managed to get out of his year-long ban, the main one being that he’s been able to spend time with his young family.
“It is about getting the best out of myself and growing as a human being. The most important thing was being a father and husband at home,” Warner said in January.
Warner deserves praise for the way he’s approached his ban says Randwick-Petersham club president and former Australian cricketer Mike Whitney.
“For him not to talk in the press, particularly after Cameron Bancroft (did his interview) I remember the press were chasing David up and down Maroubra beach and he just said, ‘I’ve been down the shops and got my daughters some breakfast’,” Whitney said.
“He’s never made a comment since then and that’s been a smart thing to do. He just wants to let his bat do the talking.”
The best of Warner has been on show quietly — out of media spotlight — at Whitney’s grade cricket club.
“As the president of the club, I could not have asked him to do anymore for our club,” Whitney said. “He’s been amazing, just being in the dressing rooms listening to him tell a few stories, he worked with all levels of the club, if you said give me one fault of Dave Warner’s; I can’t give you one.”
Club men will tell you about how Warner when driving by one Friday afternoon saw a group of primary school aged girls training for cricket at Coogee Oval. Warner pulled over and offered to help them out for an hour. He took them through training drills.
“He just turned up,” Whitney said. “I said to others at the club, ‘we didn’t ask him to go to that did we?’ He just turned up …”
Warner fully immersed himself in the Randwick-Petersham playing group, organised a WhatsApp team communication happening, and mentored the younger players. He stuck around for longer than he was required at the rooms. He helped in and around the club when he didn’t have to.
“He was just superb,” said head of cricket operations Bill Anderson. “He is one heck of a good person. He had an exceptionally positive impact on our club. He was generous with his time. Playing with our club wasn’t just something he was doing — it was something he enjoyed doing. He had a dynamic impact on our club.”
Warner’s focus has been, as it always is, firstly his family, then just cricket and only cricket. Those close to the star batsman say he’s a better man for the year out of the game.
Warner is fitter than ever and refreshed mentally. Calmer than ever. Happier than ever.
He hasn’t crumbled in the worst times and fought through the dark times when they popped up.
“He’s a super tough little bugger,” says a friend.
And he has done more than the required 100 community service hours and that has included travelling up to the Northern Territory to voluntarily conduct several kids’ cricket clinics.
The way Warner has handled this year hasn’t gone unnoticed by Cricket Australia bosses who roundly agree he’s been impressive.
Whitney notes the that his fellow Matraville boy is a robust character, a fighter, a man who thrives when his back is to the wall.
“He’s a fighter,” Whitney said. “I think he may have realised he fought a bit too hard and he’s going to back that off a bit now...”
“But, mate, he is so fit, so fit. Fast. Tough. Strong. He’s a competitor. I think he’s done all the things he’s had to do and I think he’s desperate to do play and he’s such a great player, he’s going to be successful.”
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