‘I’m not a pariah — we’re still mates’:

Disgraced Australian test opener David Warner claims he is still mates with Steve Smith and the rest of the Australian cricket team and denied he has become a pariah.

Warner was reduced to tears as he took responsibility for the balltampering saga, repeatedly apologising for his part during a press conference in Sydney yesterday.

He refused to implicate teammates or team management, as some at Cricket Australia had feared.

Pictures of Warner sitting alone in the team hotel in South Africa had painted him as an outcast.

The images came after Warner, Smith and Cameron Bancroft were banned for conspiring to change the condition of the ball with sandpaper during the third test in Cape Town.

He and Smith also caught different flights home to Australia and he had reportedly been shunned by national team-mates after removing himself from a team WhatsApp messaging group.

However, he denied his relationship with any of his team-mates had soured.

“We’re mates, we’ve grown up with each other,” Warner said.

“We’ve played on the field for a long time with each other.

“It’s going to be very hard not to partake in the next 12 months, not just with the rest of the team, with Steve, with Cameron. We made a decision that was inexcusable and extremely regrettable.”

Asked if he had ruined relationships, Warner said: “The Australian cricket team is my family.

“I really regret what happened on that day three.”

Warner added: “I wish Steve and Cameron have the same support that I have with me because it’s going to be a tough and emotional time these next 12 months.”

Warner left many frustrated as he refused to answer multiple lingering questions about the episode.

He refused to say if anyone outside himself, Smith and Bancroft knew of the plan to tamper with the ball in an attempt to achieve reverse swing.

He also dead-batted questions about whether he was the mastermind of the plot or whether the Australian team had cheated on previous occasions.