Ban on Warner may go

Skipper role possible

FOR the first time in five years, the odds are in favour of David Warner’s controversial lifetime leadership ban being sensationally scrapped.

It’s not over the line yet, but it’s now becoming a distinct probability, as Cricket Australia powerbrokers prepare to discuss the insertion of a ‘Warner clause’ into its code of conduct to allow the board to specifically deal with his exile.

Inserting a clause to allow long-term sanctions to be reviewed on the basis of good behaviour would open the door for Warner to captain in the Big Bash and potentially for Australia, without necessarily creating a problematic precedent for the rest of the code, given he’s the only player in history to have been handed such an extraordinary lifelong ban.

CA chairman Lachlan Henderson has expressed a desire to show fairness to Warner given the unique circumstances which contributed to the old board’s punitive response to the Sandpapergate scandal.

“I think we do need to be aware of precedent. Codes are put in place for good reason as are sanctions. We need to be careful that we’re not reactive in relation to bans that have been imposed in the past,” warned Henderson ahead of Friday’s board meeting.

“We also need to also be aware that players and those subject to sanctions can change, can do very well in the future and we’d like to think that we need to adopt a principle of fairness as we look at David’s situation particularly.

“But it is in the context of the broader code.”

Test captain Pat Cummins has led the charge to overturn Warner’s ban, arguing that rubbing a player out for life is a regrettable form of punishment as it cuts out any chance of redemption.

But to do that would require the game’s integrity code to be altered, because the fine print at the moment states that once a punishment is accepted by the player it cannot be challenged.

Warner’s return to the Big Bash League has brought the long-simmering leadership ban issue to a head because the Sydney Thunder wants their star recruit available to be a captaincy option.

However, Aaron Finch’s retirement from ODI cricket has also raised the possibility Warner could be considered as Australia’s white ball captain, with Greg Chappell and Finch himself supportive of such a move.

Henderson said a decision on the ban should happen speedily enough to allow Australian selectors to consider Warner as a candidate if a call was ultimately to go his way.