Test captain Pat Cummins would like to see David Warner’s leadership ban end

As the Cricket Australia board gets set to review David Warner’s leadership ban, the big names are coming out in support of the master blaster.

Test captain Pat Cummins (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

Test captain Pat Cummins has thrown his weight behind an end to David Warner’s leadership ban declaring he “fundamentally disagrees” with life bans.

The Cricket Australia board is set to discuss the ban, from captaincy and vice-captaincy across all levels of Australian cricket, which was handed to Warner in the wake of the sandpaper scandal in 2018 amid a renewed push for it to be reconsidered.

In Sri Lanka preparing for the opening test at Galle on Wednesday, Cummins told News Corp people should be given the chance to “grow” and Warner had shown himself to be an important leader among the Australian Test and limited overs squads.

“I do have views. Fundamentally, banning someone for life I disagree with,” he said.

“People are allowed to learn and improve and grow. So yeah, fundamentally I disagree with that concept.

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Pat Cummins of Australia (centre) celebrates a wicket with Nathan Lyon and David Warner (AAP Image/Michael Dodge)

“He’s a fantastic leader around our squad here. If he has a formal role, he’d be fantastic with that as well. So if that ever came up, he’d be great.”

A national leadership role could be beyond Warner who, at 35 is closer to the end of his international career than the start. But overturning the ban could pave the way for him to join the Big Bash.

As he embraced the challenge of his second Asian tour as captain, Cummins said the final eleven for the opening Test was yet to be confirmed with the Australians getting their first look at a wicket certain to spin during a rain-interrupted Sunday afternoon training session watched by a heavy military presence inside and outside the picturesque seaside ground.

The Australians, who were swept 3-0 the last time they toured Sri Lanka in 2016, with 38-year-old left-arm spinner Rangana Herath tearing through them, are even preparing for spin bowling from ball one on Wednesday.

Travis Head, who batted on Sunday in the nets will have to prove he’s fully overcome a hamstring injury to prevent Glenn Maxwell making his Test return, while Nathan Lyon had already declared it would be a “two spin operation” at least for the Australians.

Cummins said he was happy with the output of leg-spinner Mitch Swepson, who took two wickets in two Tests bowling in tandem with Lyon in Pakistan.

But his selection for the opening Test is anything but assured having played just one of eight white-ball internationals in the lead-up to the Tests.

Jon Holland played in the last series against Sri Lanka in 2016 (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

National selection chief George Bailey was fully engrossed in training on Sunday, throwing balls to batter on the nets, keeping a close eye on left-arm finger spinners Jon Holland and Matt Kuhnemann who were called in to the squad after an injury to Ashton Agar, who won’t be available for the first Test.

“Here, even off the good parts of the wicket, you see the ball spinning a lot yet. The leggie gave us real variety where, even on days one and two he felt like he could always take a wicket,” Cummins said of Swepson.

“He was unlucky, but much better than his stats and played a really key role for us. I’m really happy with Swep.”

Maxwell, should he make the team, can also bowl spin, as can Head, and Marnus Labuschagne, and Cummins was adamant they had “a really strong artillery” to choose from the opening clash.

Mitchell Starc, who had six stitches removed from his the index finger on his left hand last week, bowled without tape for the first time on Sunday.

His capacity to play could yet be determined by how he pulls up.

Originally published as Test captain Pat Cummins would like to see David Warner’s leadership ban end