By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The lifetime leadership ban that was imposed on David Warner following his involvement in Australia’s ball-tampering scandal has been lifted effective immediately, Cricket Australia (CA) announced.
Warner received the penalty for his role in the 2018 sandpaper scandal in South Africa, on top of a one-year ban from cricket, which was also imposed on Steve Smith with a lesser playing suspension given to Cameron Bancroft, who was caught on film rubbing and scuffing the ball with yellow sandpaper at a test match in Cape Town.
Cricket Australia said the decision comes after a review by an independent panel.
The panel said Warner had shown “extreme remorse”, was “sincere and genuine in acknowledging responsibility” and could “contribute towards the development of young cricketers” if able to captain.
“The respectful and contrite tone of his (Warner’s) responses, as well as the content impressed the Review Panel and led it to the unanimous view that he was sincere and genuine in acknowledging responsibility for the conduct and in his statement that he had extreme remorse for his conduct,” the panel said in a statement Friday.
Warner played his final test match in January against Pakistan, an Australian win. He has also said he will no longer play one-day internationals, only the T20 format of the game.