David Warner might return to leadership role after Cricket Australia hints at lifting his ban
David Warner (Source: Twitter)
Cricket Australia is considering revoking David Warner’s lifetime ban from all leadership positions after a board’s review meeting on Friday. Warner, along with current Test vice-captain Steven Smith and Cameron Bancroft, was punished by the board after the ball-tampering scandal in a Test match against South Africa in 2018 in Cape Town.
There have been widespread talks regarding David Warner to return to a leadership position after the retirement of Aaron Finch from ODIs last month. Since Finch’s retirement, the proposition to make the 35-year-old Warner captain of the ODIs gained momentum. Many experts and fans believe he will be the right candidate to lead Australia.
Warner’s wife Candice slammed Cricket Australia for their double standards in July this year as they allowed Steve Smith to return to a leadership position in the team but kept the ban on Warner intact. Cricket Australia is now finally moving towards lifting Warner’s ban due following his remarkable performance since his return to international cricket.
It’s not in anyone’s interest for us to delay: Lachlan Henderson
“The view within Cricket Australia is that David is doing particularly well on the field and making a great contribution,” CA chair Lachlan Henderson told a news conference after Thursday’s annual general meeting.
“The first step in terms of David’s leadership ban is to review the code and see if those sanctions are able to be reviewed. And the appropriate revisions to that code that would need to be made.”
Henderson added that the review would be undertaken “as quickly as practicable”. “It’s not in anyone’s interest for us to delay,” he said. “It would be in time for any future leadership conversations in relation to David.”
David Warner has been in scintillating form since his comeback to international cricket. He was awarded the player of the tournament in the last 20-20 World Cup held in UAE, which Australia won for the first time.
Warner, a former Test vice-captain, has said he would regard the offer of a leadership role for his country as a “privilege”. The Southpaw has even led the Hyderabad franchise to an Indian T20 League title victory in 2016.
