Tamperer Warner gets award

David Warner completed his rehabilitation after serving a ball-tampering ban when he was named his country’s top cricketer for the third time at the Australian Cricket Awards despite a poor showing in the 2019 Ashes series.

The left-handed opening batsman pipped former captain Steve Smith, who also served a one-year ban for his part in the ball-tampering scandal, by one vote at the ceremony in Melbourne on Monday night.

Warner scored 647 runs at an average of 71.88 at the 50-overs World Cup and 786 at 131 in five Tests over the domestic summer but admitted thinking that his 95 runs in 10 innings in the Ashes series would rule him out of a third medal.

“I had mixed emotions of how I was going to be received back here at home … but standing here today I’m just really proud to have that opportunity again.”

A little under two years ago, Warner’s career was in tatters when he returned from SA to issue a tearful apology for his part in the Newlands ball-tampering affair and said he was resigned to never playing for Australia again.

Former Test vice-captain and Twenty20 skipper Warner is still banned from holding a leadership position in the international set-up but will be with the squad when Australia return to SA for a one-day series in February.

“I don’t need to hide away from the fact that it’s not going to be nice,” Warner told Fox Sports TV on Tuesday when asked about the reception he was likely to receive from fans in SA.

“We always prepare to cop some banter. But we’ll just go out there and score as many runs as we can for the team.”