CA board prepared to meet Warner over ban

Cricket Australia chair Lachlan Henderson says it will appoint an ethics commissioner in the wake of the sandpaper and Tim Paine scandals.

David Warner. Picture: Ian Bird/CNSW

Cricket Australia’s chair Dr Lachlan Henderson is keen to welcome Tim Paine back to the game, and has even thrown the door open for David Warner to meet with the board as wounds from recent issues are readdressed.

Henderson also indicated the game may not have treated Paine as well as it could at the time.

In an exclusive interview with the Cricket Et Cetera podcast, the West Australian who assumed the head job in February revealed the organisation was finally ready to fulfil one of the key recommendations of 2018’s culture review and appoint an ethics commissioner.

“The ethics commissioner appointment is imminent and likely to be made this month,” Henderson said. “I will keep you posted with that.

“I think it is an important step forward. It is something that I committed to in coming into the role as chair and I think it is a good step forward for cricket.”

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Henderson was asked if an ethics commissioner may have been useful as the organisation dealt with public revelations about a four-year-old sexting scandal involving Paine last November.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I think while we had conversations that were appropriate as a board and with the management team, obviously with the captain and his management.

“I think an external view, having someone who can offer advice based on evidence and based on their experience with these matters would be helpful.”

Paine, who The Australian revealed on Sunday is planning a comeback to domestic cricket, stood down as captain when the matter became public – despite Cricket Australia having previously investigated the matter and cleared him of any offence.

Co-host of Cricket Et Cetera Gideon Haigh claimed Paine was subject to “an unwelcome degree of double jeopardy”.

“What’s the point of a Code of Conduct when it only applies where matters are confidential and their conclusions can be retrospectively voided, and complaints effectively re-heard in the event of them becoming public?” he asked.

Henderson was not keen to revisit the topic but flagged that perhaps some things could have been better handled.

“I won’t re-prosecute all the arguments around the deliberations around the captaincy other than to just reiterate that Tim did resign the captaincy. We could have a conversation around the board’s role in that, the board’s role in a decision made before my time, (but) I’m not sure that’s particularly helpful,“ he said. “It’s really important to point out that, nine months on, we are really keen that Tim gets re-embraced into the cricket community. I think it’s great we are hearing some noises out of Tasmania that Tim is back in training and has a future as a player in the game.

“We don’t look after everyone as well as we could. If the board’s played a role in that, then we are obviously apologetic about that, but moving forward is about having good people like Tim back in the game in whatever form that takes.”

Paine withdrew from all cricket to deal with mental health issues and had rarely been sighted in public until recently.

Cricket Australian chair Lachlan Henderson Picture: Getty Images

He and his wife Bonnie attended Pat Cummins’ wedding in Byron Bay, and the man who replaced him as captain spoke from the heart about his friend and the toll it took at the Chappell Foundation dinner this month.

“I know us players certainly won’t forget him,” he said. “He’s brought the Ashes back from a series over in England, that’s huge. That hasn’t been done for 20 years.

“So, I think someone like Painey, firstly as a mate, you just want to make sure he’s OK.

“Again, honest mistakes. I felt like he did the wrong thing, but he tried to fix the situation as best as he could.

“You know, these are personal things, everyone has them. I personally didn’t think it was a huge deal and I really feel for him.”

Warner was convinced by Cricket Australia to sign a two-year contract with the Big Bash League following revelations in The Australian that he was seriously considering a massive offer to play in a UAE competition at the same time.

Money was found to sign him to the Thunder and now the debate has turned to removing his lifetime leadership ban which was imposed after the sandpaper scandal.

“It’s upon the board to reach out to me and open their doors, and I can sit down and have an honest conversation with them,” Warner said on the weekend.

“The board has changed since back in 2018 and when all those sanctions were dealt. It’ll be great to have a conversation with them and see where we’re at.”

Henderson said the board was keen to engage with Warner.

“I think Dave’s going well. The conversations with David at the moment are with (CEO) Nick Hockley and that’s around the deal with the BBL, which is a terrific thing for the BBL, and hopefully a good thing for David Warner,” Henderson said.

“In terms of the conversation about the other sanctions, we haven’t seen David in person at the board and that’s one thing I would like to see.”