Warner’s wife: ‘It’s my fault and it’s killing me’
An emotional Candice Warner is blaming herself for the ball tampering scandal which has rocked the cricket world and says it is ‘‘absolutely killing me’’ to see the toll it has taken on her husband, Australian test player David Warner.
In a candid interview with the Daily Telegraph, Candice said she has been unable to offer much support to her husband, who has been slapped with a 12-month ban from competitive cricket, as she has been an emotional ‘‘wreck’’ herself.
Her pain stemmed from the fact a sexual encounter with All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams more than 10 years ago resurfaced during the test series against South Africa when Quinton de Kock sledged David Warner about the incident.
South African spectators responded by wearing Sonny Bill Williams masks to the second test.
‘‘I feel like it’s all my fault and it’s killing me - it’s absolutely killing me,’’ she told the Daily Telegraph. ‘‘When we were in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, Dave would come home and, yes, I always put on a strong front and I turn out to the games.
‘‘But seeing them wearing the masks, to have people staring and pointing and laughing at me, to have the signs, to have, you know, the songs made up about me, I would have to sit there and cop that.
‘‘Things that have happened in the past, I deserved that. I brought that upon myself. But what happened in South Africa was on a complete other level.’’
Warner and captain Steve Smith were banned for 12 months while young batsman Cameron Bancroft received nine months after an investigation identified Warner as the instigator of the plan to cheat against South Africa by tampering with the ball during the third test.
‘‘He is hurting. He is seriously, seriously struggling,’’ Candice said.