‘Way too harsh’: Teammates support David Warner’s decision and slam CA over ‘witch hunt’

Steve O’Keefe has unleashed on Cricket Australia and how it handled David Warner’s leadership ban after the opener’s captaincy call.

Steve O'Keefe says the David Warner case was handled poorly. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Teammates have continued to support David Warner’s decision to withdraw his appeal to overturn his leadership ban, with Steve O’Keefe slamming Cricket Australia for the way it handled the process.

Speaking at Cricket NSW headquarters in Sydney on Thursday, the veteran spinner said Warner should be allowed to lead any team he wanted to after what he felt had been an over-the-top ban.

Talks of overturning the leadership ban in the wake of the 2018 sandpaper scandal have been going on for months, and a fed-up Warner took to social media on Wednesday night to officially end proceedings moments after Steve Smith was announced as Test captain in place of the injured Pat Cummins.

Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft were all banned for their part in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018, with Warner given a lifetime captaincy ban.

An emotional David Warner was shattered when he spoke publicly after returning from South Africa. Picture: AFL/Peter Parks

He seemingly hasn’t been able to shake the events of four years ago in the eyes of Cricket Australia and parts of the public, but the 36-year-old has plenty of support among his fellow players following his comments on the eve of the second Test in Adelaide.

“Why go all though that rubbish? I agree with Davey 100 per cent,” O’Keefe said

“What CA should do is say that ‘we’re going to give you the opportunity to come back and be a leader’.

“I think the ban on all three of them was way too harsh to begin with, I don’t know why Davey was singled out that he can’t be a leader.

“I think that given his age and his maturity and his growth and development, he deserves that opportunity to lead an Australian team as much as anybody else.

“Going through that whole process would be pointless and it’d dredge up ugly scenes that we’ve already been through and moved on from.

“The right thing would be for them to say ‘we rescind on what we’ve done and we’re going to give you the opportunity to captain an Australian team’.”

The process has taken its toll on David and Candice Warner. Picture: AFP/Peter Parks

O’Keefe said the initial decision to suspend Warner for 12 months and ban him for life from holding any leadership roles wasn’t properly thought out and the appeals process had overshadowed the on-field success of the national team.

“The decision was made around public opinion at the time that was an emotional one,” he said.

“I think when we all look back on it, we understand that the guys did the wrong thing and it didn’t look good, but I still think the punishment was way too harsh.

“Dave has every right to not want to put his family through it all again. To put him back through all that would be devastating for him and it’d be pointless.

“By doing it publicly, you’re outlining stuff that we’ve already gone over and it’s dredging up old turf that the team doesn’t need and the public doesn’t want to hear.

“We want to be celebrating this team at the moment, not going after these witch hunts.”

Sixers all-rounder Dan Christian was also disappointed with the way things were handled.

“It certainly looked like it didn’t go the way it should have opened up,” he said.

“I think he’s done his time. He certainly seems quite remorseful. The process certainly didn’t look like it was looked upon favourably.”

Jason Sangha will captain the Thunder. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Warner’s decision came two days after Jason Sangha was announced as Thunder captain, with the Aussie opener set to join the team in green for the first time in nine years later this season.

Sangha didn’t want to get caught up in the politics of it but said he would lean on Warner for captaincy advice and the team would benefit greatly from having him in the BBL.

“One thing I know about Davey is that he’s a very passionate guy and that he loves the people that he plays with,” Sangha said.

“We’re just really excited to have him at the Thunder. I know there are things going on there in the background, but he’s just handling it how he wants to. When he comes back into this dressing room, we’ll welcome him with open arms.”

Originally published as ‘Way too harsh’: Teammates support David Warner’s decision and slam CA over ‘witch hunt’