Cricket Australia has announced that former left-handed opener David Warner has been cleared to take up leadership roles in Australian cricket with immediate effect.
The statement said that an independent three-member Review Panel had ruled that Warner had satisfied the grounds for the lifting of the ban imposed on him in 2018 following the Cape Town sandpaper scandal. The hearing took place earlier this month after Warner lodged the application in 2022.
Australia test captain Pat Cummins, head coach Andrew McDonald, New Zealand batter Kane Williamson, former men's cricketer Greg Chappell, ex-women's captain and current President of World Cricketers' Association Lisa Sthalekar were some of the character witnesses who gave written statements during the trial.
The panel of Alan Sullivan KC, Jeff Gleeson KC and Jane Seawright found unanimously that Warner had satisfied all the requirements and that the ban imposed on him in 2018 must be vacated effective immediately and that the six and half years old sanction had 'had its day' in court.
As noted by the panel, "the respectful and contrite tone of his 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 also considered references to "the contribution that Mr Warner has made, and can make in the future, towards the development of young cricketers in Australia if they were given the opportunity to be led by Mr Warner, his important continuing role in fostering interest in cricket especially with the South Asian community in Australia and generally".
With this, Warner becomes available to be considered for Sydney Thunder's BBL-based captaincy in the next season. With him to testify, Trent Copeland-Ty represented as a general manager of Thunder and also the one long-time teammate of him with Australia and New South Wales.
In 2022, we updated the Code of Conduct to have a fair and rigorous process in place for all players and player support personnel to have long-term sanctions reviewed. I am pleased David has chosen to have his sanction reviewed and that he will be eligible to take up leadership positions in Australian Cricket this summer," said Nick Hockley, CA Chief Executive.
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