David Warner took a dig at Cricket Australia (CA) for lack of support on his captaincy ban appeal. According to him, the issue impacted his mental health ahead of the first Test against South Africa.
Warner who was slammed with a lifetime leadership ban for his involvement in the 2018 ball tempering scandal, had launched an appeal against the ban. However, the board-appointed independent commissioners insisted on it being public, forcing Warner to withdraw his appeal earlier this month.
"Leading into the Perth Test, my mental health probably wasn't where I needed it to be at to be 100 per cent. And that was challenging at the time," Warned said.
"If I had it my way we would have had it all sorted. From the CA point of view, I didn't really have any support. My teammates and the staff in our team were absolutely amazing, and my family and friends - they really got me through that period," the 36-year-old said.
- 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.
Warner, who was recently criticized for his Test form, was out for 0 and 3 in the Perth Test last week. He hasn't scored a Test century since January 2020.
David Warner's performance in the previous 5 Test innings:
- AUS vs SA: 3 runs (17 December 2022)
- AUS vs SA: No runs scored (17 December 2022)
- AUS vs WI: 28 runs (8 December 2022)
- AUS vs WI: 21 runs (8 December 20220
- AUS vs WI: 48 runs (30 November 2022)
The opener said he was unable to understand why the process had taken so much time.
"We reached out in February. So we have no idea how it went on this far and only CA can answer that and they'll probably give you the same thing that they always give everyone else, they don't really give an answer," Warner said.
Despite his struggle in the longest format, Warner backed himself to do well in the Boxing Day Test. Yeah my back's up against the wall, but it's in my DNA to keep being competitive, come out here with a smile on my face and take on whatever opposition we're going to face," he said.
He added that he will have a conversation with the board after the South Africa series.
"I'll have that conversation once that series is done.
For me, it's about staying in the right frame of mind to take on the South Africans.
- Earlier, Michael Clarke, Warner's former teammate had 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."
