Forgiven Warner returns to the fold

JUSTIN Langer has taken a significant step in soothing the wounds of the ball-tampering scandal by inviting David Warner back into the Australian fold.

Warner returned to the national dressing room for the first time since Cape Town as he faced Test pace guns Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins in a shock training session three hours before Australia took on India in the Twenty20 international yesterday.

In the initial wake of the scandal, there were doubts cast over Warner’s chances of playing international cricket again, but the call to face the Aussie quicks before their Test series is the strongest sign yet that the 32-year-old opener is firmly in Langer’s plans for the World Cup, which comes immediately after his 12-month ban expires.

Langer watched like a hawk in the umpiring position as Warner emerged from the SCG rooms alongside the coach to face a barrage of world-class bowling from his old teammates, who were in rare form with the ball.

It was as intense a battle between bat and ball as you would see in the nets all summer as Cummins and Hazlewood steamed in for at least half an hour.

Steve Smith and Warner have been training regularly with NSW, but it’s believed this is the first time either of them have been back in official face-to-face training with the national set-up.

Warner smashed 81 off 49 balls for Randwick-Petersham in a Twenty20 clash against North Sydney earlier in the day to continue his outstanding form since being banished to the local Sydney scene. Relationships between Warner and the fast bowlers in particular were fractured by the ball-tampering affair, but yesterday’s session was a sign that things may be repairing.

Warner was wearing a NSW training kit and his RandwickPetersham helmet as he faced Hazlewood and Cummins bowling in their Aussie gear.

Under strict International Cricket Council rules, no Australian T20 squad members were allowed in the nets until after Warner had finished with Hazlewood and Cummins, who weren’t part of this series.

Hazlewood and Cummins beat the bat and fired in a series of short balls in an ominous warning to India ahead of the first Test in Adelaide from December 6.