David Warner has paid a far bigger price for past mistakes than Ben Stokes

David Warner was crowned Australia’s best cricket for 2019 but is not allowed to captain his country, state or BBL franchise Picture: Getty Images

While David Warner is a proud Australian — raised by Sydney’s eastern beaches — he must be looking at English cricket this week and wondering if he was born in the wrong country.

Ben Stokes will captain England in the first Test against the West Indies in Southampton on July 8

The same Ben Stokes who escaped tragedy and legal consequences by the skin of his teeth after a disturbing incident outside a Bristol nightclub a few years back.

The Ben Stokes on CCTV throwing hay makers at trouble makers, any one of which could have led to a terrible, terrible outcome.

The same Ben Stokes who was given an OBE by the Queen on the New Year’s honours list.

Ben Stokes OBE and now (c).

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David Warner, meanwhile, is a few years into a life ban for his role as an instigator in the sandpaper scandal. A rotten business, a shameful, scandalous affair that brought the Australian side infamy and the game something similar.

Still, no one was hurt in the scrap. Even the ball survived unscathed. The umpires did not change it. It was a scrape and a miss.

None of this is to say Ben Stokes does not deserve an OBE or the captaincy, the bloke has done more for England with a bat and ball than just about anybody in the history of the game. They should build a statue to commemorate his heroic efforts at Headingley. They could give him a palace and life stipend and it still wouldn’t be reward enough. Put him on an open-top bus and drive him from Land’s End to John o’ Groats until his time is done. Then do the same in an open topped coffin.

Ben Stokes leaves court in Bristol in February 2018 during his trial. He was later acquitted of the affray charges Picture: AFP

It’s just you wonder how it would have played out if he was an Australian. One punch outside a pub in these parts would appear to be a crime that consumes more attention and consequence than the relentless, depressing ugliness of domestic violence.

In England they shrug and say ‘it’s a fight outside a pub, so what?’ Here we take that business a lot more seriously.

In NSW Kings Cross was locked down after a few tragic incidents, businesses and a historic precinct condemned to pandemic-like restrictions long before anyone suffered a sore throat.

Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, Warner’s co-conspirators, no longer face bans but Warner can’t even lead a BBL side.

To be fair, there’s no leadership vacancies in the Australian side, Tim Paine and Aaron Finch have proved excellent in the jobs.

Warner was brilliant captaining the T20 side in the lead up to South Africa, has a great record in the IPL, but he can’t even get a look in with the domestic franchises at home.

He has no recourse. By opting not to appeal the sentence at the height of the post Cape Town hysteria Warner sealed his fate.

His legal advice was that it would cost him a fortune in fees – try $25,000 a day – and he couldn’t win. The lawyers figured Cricket Australia had their mind set on this action and if he stood in their way life they would be made even more difficult for him in the future.

David Warner opted not to appeal his ban for his part in the Cape Town scandal Picture: Damian Hoffman

The board that drove those decisions is still in place give or take a director or two and surely has not changed its mind.

Maybe Warner’s best chance is a new chief executive who grants a Donald Trump like pardon for good behaviour since.

Stokes? He’ll be an interesting leader. A player in the Ian Botham mould, he will hope for a better experience the previous hero of Headingley.

It is, anyway, only for a Test, the cricketer has been asked to stand in while Joe Root ducks out to be there at the birth of his child. Root can rejoin the side for the second Test of the series against the West Indies. The first begins next Wednesday (Fox Cricket is hoping to get a rights deal done before then but at time of publication has not).

Stokes has been a leader on the field if not off it.

Ben Stokes celebrates hitting the winning runs for England during his astonishing innings at Headingley in 2019 Picture: Getty Images

“I always try to set the example in terms of attitude and commitment,” he said this week. “Having the added responsibility of being a captain also comes with pressure, in terms of making decisions through tough periods of the game.

“But that’s not going to change the way that I go about things. I’ll try to make a positive impact with the ball or bat in my hand. No matter what I do, it will always be the positive route.

“I’ve never set a goal out to be a captain. Alastair Cook was always destined to be England captain after Andrew Strauss. Root was always destined to be captain after Cook. I’m not one of those people you would necessarily think of as the next England captain.

“But it’s a huge honour. Even if it’s only the once you can still say ‘yeah, I’ve captained England’. So I’m really looking forward to it if the opportunity presents itself. But I know I’m only stepping in for one game because of Joe’s personal situation.”