‘Very bizarre’: David Warner slates Cricket Australia over leadership ban

David Warner called time on his prolific Test and ODI career earlier this year, playing his last Test match against Pakistan in Sydney. The event was met with an avalanche of tributes for Warner, widely regarded as one of the greatest Australian opening batters of all time. Warner's career was also one that had its fair share of controversy, most notably the 2018 Newlands ball-tampering scandal that led to him being slapped with a lifetime leadership ban by Cricket Australia.

The ban has been criticised by a number of former players and commentators in the years since. Warner and Steve Smith, who were vice-captain and captain respectively of the Australian team at the time, had to serve blanket bans from professional cricket for a year alongwith Cameron Bancroft, who was caught with sandpaper in his pocket during the 2018 Newlands Test match between Australia and South Africa. While there was little sympathy for Warner and Smith at the time of the development, popular opinion on the two players have drastically changed since they returned from their bans.

Warner had appealed against the ban, although he withdrew it later. However, he says that it is bizarre that he can become a coach of the Australian team at a later time. "What's the difference between captaining and coaching? You've got more responsibility as a coach, wouldn't you think so? I don't know, I'm not sure, I don't know how to answer," Warner said on Code Sports.

"It's been five years, and I still don't know how to answer the question. It's just something that's hard to get my head around. Apparently, I will be able to coach if allowed to in Australia. But I can't captain. So yeah, I'm not sure what it is. It's under contract with Australia. It's a leadership position, so I'm not sure; I just don't know. It's very bizarre."

Warner had withdrawn the appeal against the ban claiming the process would involve a "public trial" of his part in the infamous scandal. "I am not prepared for my family to be the washing machine for cricket's dirty laundry," Warner had said.