David Warner: Cricket Australia could lift lifetime leadership ban
Cricket Australia has
paved the way for David Warner's lifetime leadership ban to be lifted after requesting
an amendment to their integrity code.
Warner was banned from elite cricket for 12
months and from leadership positions for life by the governing body in 2018 for
his part in the infamous ball-tampering
scandal in South Africa.
But after Aaron Finch stepped down as
Australia's one-day international captain, there have been calls for Warner to
fill the vacancy.
The opening batter previously deputised as ODI
captain in 2016 and 2017 and was vice-captain of the Test team when he was
banned.
Under current rules any player who accepts a
sanction, as 35-year-old Warner did, waive the right to a review of their
punishment. But on Friday the CA board asked its head of integrity to propose a
change.
Speaking on Test Match Special, Warner said:
"I've just got to accept whatever decision is handed down.
"There is talk that I can have a chat
with the integrity unit. If I do have the chance I'll sit down and chew the fat
a little bit and see where we are at.
"If it is overturned then we will go from
there, but I am a leader in this team no matter what."
Asked if he wants to be captain, Warner said:
"If it ever presented itself it would be a privilege, but for me it is
about focusing on the next game and what I have to do for the team."
CA said in a statement: "The amendment
would allow a person to request a penalty that they had accepted be reviewed
after an appropriate period of time.
"The onus would be on the applicant to
prove they had undergone genuine reform relevant to the offence they were
sanctioned for.
"Any review would not revisit the
original sanction, other than suspension of a penalty in recognition of genuine
reform."
On Thursday, CA chairman Lachlan Henderson
said: "The view within Cricket Australia is that David is doing
particularly well on the field and making a great contribution off the field.
"Our intention is to review the code as
quick as is practical. It's not in anyone's interest for us to delay that.
"It would be in time for any future
leadership conversations in relation to David."
Warner has missed the third T20 against
England in Canberra with a minor neck injury sustained in the second match of
the series.
