David Warner appears to have lost ‘ball management’ role in Australian cricket team
As the Australian cricket team looks to move past the ‘Sandpapergate’ scandal on the eve of the Ashes series, a key player in the drama appears to have a new role in the field.
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David Warner looks to have lost his ball management role for the Australian team as Test skipper Tim Paine declared the sandpaper scandal should prove a wake-up call to teams around the world.
Ahead of his return to Test cricket in the Ashes, Warner, who before his 12 month ban was the man given the responsibility of looking after the ball, found himself in unusual territory in the All-Australian clash in Southampton.
The opening batsman, who made just four, fielded at first-slip for the 36 overs his team bowled at the Rose Bowl and could yet form part of a new-look corden.
It’s another selection quandary for Justin Langer and the coaching staff with an injury-cloud still hovering over nominal first slip Usman Khawaja ahead of the first Ashes Test in Birmingham on August 1.
Warner has rarely fielded anywhere behind the batsman and instead spent most of his 74 Tests patrolling the areas around mid-off.
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He was generally the last man to handle the ball before giving it to the bowlers.
It was while fielding there in South Africa last year that TV cameras zoned in on Warner’s taped-up fingers amid accusations he was altering the ball, before Cameron Bancroft was caught with sandpaper in Cape Town.
A Cricket Australia investigation in to the events found there had been no previous instances of ball-tampering by the Australians.
But last year the International Cricket Council increased penalties for ball-tampering after acknowledging that it was a broad problem in the game as teams fought for any sort of advantage, and needed action.
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Paine, who took over as captain in the wake of bans to both Warner and Steve Smith, said the incident and the fallout should ensure that need to push the boundaries with the ball ended.
“The worrying trend was that teams were starting to try more and more methods, and getting more adventurous,” he told cricket.com this week.
“So the thing I hope will come out of South Africa is that it will be cleaned up, and it will be a more level playing field rather than teams trying to push the boundaries and develop a mentality of 'they're doing this, so we'll try this' and 'they do that, so we'll try it too'.
“I think for too long, it was allowed."
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