David Warner explains why he didn’t follow Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft

David Warner has revealed why he snubbed the opportunity to copy former captain Steve Smith’s road to Australian cricket redemption.

David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were all in a similar boat when they were banned for their roles in the ball tampering scandal but the former vice-captain opted to take a different route than his teammates on his road to redemption.

The trio gave emotional press conferences upon returning to Australia after the Cape Town controversy, which saw Smith and Warner slapped with 12-month bans from domestic and international cricket and Bancroft hit with a nine-month suspension.

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Smith and Bancroft spoke to Australian legend Adam Gilchrist in TV interviews last summer that were widely slammed, both for their timing and content. The pair were accused of hijacking Boxing Day — the biggest day on the Australian cricket calendar — as Bancroft’s interview went to air during the lunch break and Smith’s aired after play.

In his sit-down with Gilchrist, Bancroft confirmed Warner approached him to take sandpaper out onto the field. However, no details about the saga that had not already been reported were revealed in either interview. Smith spoke publicly again, while Warner stayed mum during his entire 12-month ban.

Steve Smith during an interview with Fox Sports.

The damaging opening batsman — fresh from a man of the match performance in Australia’s 41-run win over Pakistan at the World Cup where he scored 107 — revealed why he didn’t copy Smith and Bancroft’s approach.

“I was just focused ahead. That was my own thing,” Warner said when asked why he didn’t go public with his side of the story.

“I was just focusing on playing the next game that I was playing in, training as hard as I could. I didn’t need to say anything. What was said was said back in those press conferences. And now it’s about looking forward.

“I’m excited to be here. Obviously we’re a couple of games in now. Good to get a win on the board and we move forward and looking forward to Sri Lanka at The Oval (on Saturday night, AEST).”

Cameron Bancroft during an interview with Fox Sports.

Australian cricket legends like Ricky Ponting, Michael Slater, Mark Taylor and Dean Jones were among those who slammed Smith and Bancroft’s interviews, saying they did more harm than good.

“I was very disappointed with the timing of it,” Ponting said at the time. “Yesterday is the best day on the Australian cricket calendar and we’re reading and listening to all this stuff again nine months later?

“I was disappointed with a few things. I just don’t think he (Bancroft) needed to say some of the things he had to say to be honest. Even the way he presented himself in that interview, I was disappointed with.”

Retired fast bowler Dirk Nannes told ABC Grandstand: “What benefit have they got out of these interviews? I’d have preferred they kept a lid on it and played a few games.”

My thoughts on the Steve Smith and Cam Bancroft interview.
1. Just dumb to do the interviews. What were they thinking?
2. Just be quiet, do your time. Practice hard and quietly get your spot back.
3. If they get a 100, don’t carry on. Just raise your hand and move on.

— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) December 26, 2018

While Smith and Bancroft’s PR plays backfired, Warner kept his mouth shut, his head down and concentrated on the business of scoring runs. He notched three centuries and six fifties from 14 digs for Randwick Petersham in Sydney club cricket before going on to dominate in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

He finished as the leading runscorer in the T20 tournament, plundering one century and eight fifties in 12 matches at a strike rate of nearly 144.

They were positive signs ahead of his international return at the World Cup and while the 32-year-old wasn’t at his fluent best to start the tournament he’s still found a way to grind out runs. Warner scored his two slowest half centuries ever in ODI cricket against Afghanistan (89 not out off 114 balls) and India (56 off 84) as he struggled for rhythm.

But on a green wicket in Taunton offering plenty of assistance to the Pakistani seamers, Warner showed his class by producing his best knock since arriving in the UK. He hit the gaps, pounced on anything short and ran like a hare between the wickets as he and Aaron Finch got Australia off to a flyer with a 146-run opening partnership.

Warner’s been booed almost everywhere he’s gone in England from Bristol to Nottingham to London. But there was a much different atmosphere in Taunton as the pro-Pakistan crowd applauded his boundaries, celebrated his fifty and gave him a standing ovation both when he reached his century and when he walked off the field after being dismissed.

Warner just laughed when asked after his first century in Australian colours since December 2017 about the rough reception he and Smith have copped so far, saying it doesn’t affect him in the slightest.

“The boos, we don’t really hear that when we’re out there,” he said. “At the end of the day we’re out there to do a job. And for me it’s just trying to score runs and have a lot of energy in the field.

“And, look, it’s water off a duck’s back. You get it all the time. I’ve heard it my whole career. Actually it eggs us on a lot and makes us knuckle down and try to score more runs if anything.”