Players turn on David Warner as ball-tampering crisis rips team apart

Johannesburg: The ball-tampering crisis that has brought Australian cricket to its knees turned nuclear on Tuesday night with players turning on David Warner amid claims that the deposed vice-captain may never play for his country again.

Hours before Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland was due to announce the findings of an internal investigation into the scandal and hand down severe penalties, the Australian team flew to Johannesburg with some players furious at Warner in the belief he had attempted to throw them under the bus.

In the firing line: David Warner's team-mates have turned on him.Credit: AP

The deposed vice-captain removed himself from the team's WhatsApp group in the midst of the unprecedented drama. Warner and Steve Smith, who were both facing losing their leadership roles as well as having bans imposed for their part in the cheating plot, walked through Cape Town airport surrounded by hordes of television cameras and reporters.

Fairfax Media reported exclusively on Monday night that Warner had emerged as the central character in the affair, with suggestions he was the primary figure behind the ill-fated decision for Cameron Bancroft to use a piece of yellow tape to try and alter the condition of the ball during the third Test.

Sources close to Warner had denied that he was the instigator, saying the whole team were aware of the plans, including Australia's fast bowlers. Their belief was that if one or two players were to go down over the controversy, then all should.

Australia coach Darren Lehmann is mobbed by cameras as the team travel from Cape Town to Johannesburg.Credit: AP

Warner's version of events has prompted an angry reaction from others in the team who were enraged with the opening batsman.

Senior fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, as well as the team's most capped player, Nathan Lyon, had distanced themselves from knowledge of the ploy soon after Smith's claim after the day's play on Saturday that the decision had been made by the "leadership group".

In interviews with the CA head of integrity, Iain Roy, in Cape Town on Monday the players offered their versions of events. According to sources close to the dressing room the most prominent narrative was that the plan was devised during a discussion between Warner and Bancroft, and that Smith foolishly agreed to it.

The major disharmony between Warner and others in the team has led to suggestions from prominent figures within the game that he may never play for the country. Sources say that players do not want to set foot on the field with him again.

Warner had previously been the team's appointed ball manager in the field, but after gaining attention for wearing a bandage over his hand and fingers in Port Elizabeth in the previous match, the task was then left to junior team member Bancroft, who was deemed less likely to go under the microscope of the operators of the local television broadcaster's 30 cameras.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland flew to South Africa to deal with the scandal.Credit: AAP

The discussion in the dressing room has changed careers and lives, shattered reputations and left Australia's treasured national sport in crisis.

There were further developments on Tuesday in South Africa ahead of an anticipated announcement in the evening that was poised to confirm which players were involved in the plot and what action would be taken.

Roy and and fellow CA executive Pat Howard flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg in the morning here to meet with Sutherland in the city's Sandton district and relay the findings from their day-long interviews with players, team management and staff. A telephone hook-up between Sutherland and the CA board was then scheduled for 1pm (10pm AEDT).

The Australian team were on a mid-morning flight and when they touched down in the early afternoon those deemed to be culpable were to be fronted by Sutherland and be told their fate.

At the same time Queensland opening batsman Matthew Renshaw was on his way from Brisbane to Johannesburg to join the squad for the fourth and final Test of the series, which starts at the Wanderers ground on Friday.

It had been Renshaw, 21, who had made way for Bancroft in the Australian home summer when the in-form West Australian made his Test debut. The batsman was flying out from a country still in meltdown about the affair.

Former Test captain Steve Waugh was the latest high-profile identity to weigh in. Waugh had played a key role in drafting the so-called "Spirit of Australian Cricket" pledge for his Test team 15 years ago.

“Like many, I’m deeply troubled by the events in Cape Town this last week, and acknowledge the thousands of messages I have received, mostly from heartbroken cricket followers worldwide,” Waugh said. “The Australian cricket team has always believed it could win in any situation against any opposition, by playing combative, skilful and fair cricket, driven by our pride in the fabled baggy green.

“I have no doubt the current Australian team continues to believe in this mantra, however some have now failed our culture, making a serious error of judgement in the Cape Town Test match."