Cricket Australia could revoke David Warner's lifetime captaincy ban, which was issued following ball-tampering scandal in 2018; Warner is viewed as a candidate to succeed Aaron Finch as one-day international captain but cannot take on the role under current sanctions
Friday 14 October 2022 12:54, UK
David Warner's lifetime leadership ban has moved closer to being lifted after Cricket Australia's board requested an amendment to their integrity code.
Warner, 35, was banned from captaining by CA for the role he played in Australia's ball-tampering scandal at Newlands in 2018, an offence which also saw him suspended from the elite game for one year.
There have been calls from players, including Test skipper Pat Cummins, for the leadership ban to be dropped to allow Warner to be considered to replace Aaron Finch as one-day international skipper.
Any player who accepts a sanction under the current code, as Warner did, forgoes the right to a later review of the punishment, but the CA board on Friday asked the body's head of integrity to propose an amendment to it.
"The amendment would allow a person to request a penalty that they had accepted be reviewed after an appropriate period of time," CA said in a statement. "The onus would be on the applicant to prove they had undergone genuine reform relevant to the offence they were sanctioned for.
"Any review would not revisit the original sanction, other than suspension of a penalty in recognition of genuine reform."
Warner, speaking in Canberra during Australia's third T20I against England, said: "It is what it is. At the end of the day I've just got to accept what decision is handed down. There is talk I might be be able to have a chat with the integrity unit.
"If it's possible, I am happy to sit down with them, chew the fat and see where we are at. If it does get overturned then we have to go from there. For me, I'm a leader in this team no matter what. It doesn't matter if you've got a 'c' or a 'vc' next to your name. You've got to put your best foot forward and lead by example.
Asked about captaining the white-ball side, he said: "It would be a privilege [to captain Australia] if it ever presented itself.
"For me, it's about focussing on the next game and what I have to do for the team. At this point in time that's what I have to do."
CA chairman Lachlan Henderson and chief executive Nick Hockley signalled the move after CA's annual general meeting on Thursday.
Hockley said: "We are looking at sanctions to be reviewed for good behaviour and growth after a period of time. Pending the discussion, there would then need to be a revision of the code and that would need to be approved by the board."
Henderson said the review would be undertaken as quickly as possible to allow Warner to be considered in discussions about future leadership positions.
Watch the T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports from Sunday, October 16.
