Australian pair David Warner, Ed Cowan question ball-tampering double-standards after India A drama

The ball-tampering drama that threatened to engulf India’s Test tour was ‘squashed as fast they could’ according to two former Australian openers, who called for a more thorough investigation.

Former openers David Warner and Ed Cowan have accused Cricket Australia of squashing ball-tampering allegations against the India A touring team to avoid a major scandal ahead of the lucrative Border Gavaskar Test series.

Cricket Australia confirmed it is unlikely to further investigate the ball-tampering issue that emerged from the Australia A-India A tour match last weekend despite claims from Warner that it had been seemingly been swept under the rug ahead of India’s arrival next week.

Cowan went a step further claiming CA’s quick declaration of innocence was financially motivated, but added: “You can’t choose when integrity matters.”

On the day that officially marked the end of Warner’s more than six-year leadership exile for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018, Warner questioned whether the incident in Mackay last week had been properly dealt with.

Umpire Shawn Craig was heard on the stump microphone talking to India A players and claiming that the ball had been changed before the start of day four due to the visiting team’s actions. “When you scratch it, we change the ball,” Craig said. “No more discussion, let’s play.”

Ishan Kishan of India A is spoken to by match umpire Shawn Craig. Picture: Getty

Indian wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan was then warned he could face further punishment for dissent after protesting his team’s innocence.

Match officials opted against pursuing the matter, while CA issued a statement immediately after the match confirming the ball change occurred simply because of “deterioration”.

Warner was quizzed about the incident on Wednesday morning at a press conference announcing him as the Sydney Thunder captain for the upcoming BBL season. While he confirmed he wasn’t completely across the case, he did suggest CA needed to address the matter he claimed had been “squashed”.

“The ultimate decision is with CA, isn’t it?,” Warner said. “I think they have obviously squashed it as fast as they could, given that India is coming out here this summer.

“But if the umpires deemed something happened, I am sure there will be a follow-up. I think the umpires or the match referee should be standing here answering questions.”

When pressed further on whether the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy played a part in the matter being wrapped up so quickly, Warner agreed.

“That’s what I am saying, I think the match referee should be coming out and addressing his own staff which are the umpires,” Warner said.

“And if they’re sticking by the umpire’s decisions, you have to stand up for that. That’s obviously a statement CA have to release. I have not seen anything.”

David Warner has questioned the double-standards over how the ball-tampering incidents were handled. Picture: Getty

Following Warner’s comments, a CA spokesperson reaffirmed the organisation’s belief that no further action was necessary.

“The correct process was followed for the replacement of the ball,” the statement read. “The officials then determined on the information available no further action was required.”

The fallout is a stark contrast to the more than six years of punishment that Warner has served following his actions in the Sandpaper scandal from Cape Town in 2018.

Pinned as the mastermind of the incident which saw Cameron Bancroft use a piece of sandpaper to attempt to alter the condition of the ball, Warner copped heavy sanctions including a lifetime leadership ban as a result of his involvement.

However, the incident in Mackay appears to have been wrapped up in the space of a week with no further information requested.

Warner’s comments were further supported by former Test opener Cowan who claimed umpire Craig had been “hung out to dry” by CA, and that there might have been a financial motivation to make sure no ball tampering was found.

“Shawn Craig it feels has been hung out to dry here, badly,” Cowan said on the ABC Grandstand Cricket Podcast.

Former Australian teammates Ed Cowan and Dave Warner have come out in support of umpire Shawn Craig.

“He’s had no support from his employer.

“He has seen something on the field and in his best judgment tried to rectify that. And then Cricket Australia have worked out they’ve got an issue.

“The issue is similar to any other time India are aggrieved, they threaten to maybe pull out of a tour or threaten X, Y or Z and people retreat.

“I’m in a bit of shock actually that an actual press release would come out and say, having heard the audio, that an umpire thought it had been scratched … that it’s like nothing more to see here, we’re going to keep on moving to this Test series that hopefully go to fixing the hole in our balance sheet.

“My underlying issue here is you can’t choose when integrity matters.”

The speculation comes as Warner finally received a degree of closure following the removal of his lifetime leadership ban by an independent panel last week. The Sydney Thunder wasted no time in promoting him to their full-time captain for BBL14 and the 38-year-old now has a chance to redefine his legacy.

David Warner will captain the Thunder this summer. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

“Quite clearly the last piece of that puzzle was (the leadership ban), but for me, now it’s about coming out and sharing my knowledge of the game,” Warner said.

“I think always forever, that was probably going to be on my CV as well. You don’t want to look back and go for a job interview and have ‘banned for life from a leadership perspective’ on your CV.

“I think two years ago, that was probably me done (with leadership). I thought I probably would revisit that, I didn’t even know if I was going to come back and play Big Bash. But I think deep down, in 2018, I learned a lot of things from then and one of those was giving back to the game.”

While Warner won’t get to captain his country having retired from international duty, he is more than comfortable being in a position of leadership in domestic cricket where he can pass advice on to younger players. Even more significantly, it gives him a chance to play a role in his family’s potential cricket future.

“Look, the punishment that was handed down was there for a reason and I thoroughly accept that,” Warner said. “You’re always going to be disappointed that you can’t lead but what was done was done and I moved on from that.

“But now I get the opportunity to lead the Thunder and share my wealth of knowledge about the game and hopefully some of the youngsters can come ask me some questions after the game, decisions that I’ve made or some errors that I might have made.

“That’s something that I’ll be able to now share with my girls moving forward that I’m able to actually be a leader. My girls love the game of cricket and I encourage them to keep wanting to play the game if they enjoy it. Hopefully, one day I might be able to coach them in a team.”

Originally published as Australian pair David Warner, Ed Cowan question ball-tampering double-standards after India A drama