In the infamous ball-tampering scandal, David Warner's manager James Erskine has claimed that Cricket Australia's (CA) officials allowed players to tamper with ball more than a year before the sandpaper gate scandal broke out in 2018.
- Why was Warner slammed with a ban of lifetime captaincy?
In the year 2018, Steve Smith and David Warner were found guilty in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. While former skipper Steve Smith was stripped of the captaincy and banned from leading Australia for two years, Warner was slammed with a lifelong leadership ban.
Warner, Smith, and batter Cameron Bancroft were banned from playing domestic or international cricket as punishment for their roles in the infamous ball-tampering scandal. Warner and Smith had been banned for one year, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months.
- David Warner's manager James Erskine allegations:
The players got the go ahead from "two executives" after losing a Test match to South Africa in late 2016 in Hobart, according to Erskine.
"Two senior executives were in the changing room in Hobart and basically were berating the team for losing against South Africa," Erskine said.
"Warner said: 'We've got to reverse-swing the ball. 'The only way we can reverse-swing the ball is by tampering with it.'
"And they were told to do it."
In the Hobart Test, Australia were bundled out for 85 in the first innings, although South Africa's Faf du Plessis was later found guilty of ball-tampering.
"He (Warner) has shut up, he protected Cricket Australia, he protected his fellow players ... because at the end of the day no one wanted to hear any more of it and he’s got on playing cricket," he further added.
Describing the sandpaper gate scandal as "injustice at its greatest level", Erskine said that Warner had been "completely villainised", and "there was far more than three people involved in this thing".
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke also accused his country's cricket board of making David Warner the "scapegoat" in its messy handling of his captaincy ban following the ball-tampering scandal:
- Backing his former teammate, Clarke said Cricket Australia's review of the scandal has been inconsistent.
"You can tell he’s disappointed and frustrated,” Clarke said. "I think the other thing that probably hurts a little bit more is the fact Steve Smith is going to captain this Test match."
- The 36-year-old Warner has now given up on his captaincy ambitions and slammed the Cricket Australia panel for making "offensive" comments and questioned the entire process. He withdrew his application for revocation of lifetime leadership ban.
"...despite my opposition and that of Cricket Australia, on Tuesday last week Counsel Assisting the Review Panel and the Review Panel took it upon themselves to concoct an irregular procedure (overturning presumptions and previous practice) for the determination of my application and establish a novel approach that would negatively impact the health and welfare of my family and the interests of the Australian cricket team,"
Warner said in a statement, posted on social media platforms
