SYDNEY: Disgraced Australian opener David Warner Thursday apologised to fans and said he took responsibility for his part in a ball-tampering scandal that has shocked the cricketing world.
“Mistakes have been made which have damaged cricket,” he said on Instagram in breaking his silence over the incident in the third Test against South Africa last weekend.
“I apologise for my part and take responsibility for it.”
Vice-captain Warner, along with skipper Steve Smith, have been banned from all international and domestic cricket for a year for their behaviour.
Opening batsman Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months.
Warner, a hard-hitting batsman but divisive figure in the world game, has become the focus of Australian media, who blame him for the scandal.
He was charged by Cricket Australia with developing the plan to use sandpaper to alter the ball and instructing Bancroft to carry it out.
https://arynews.tv/en/australia-steve-smith-banned-ball-tampering/
“I understand the distress this has caused the sport and its fans,” Warner, who is on his way back to Sydney, told his 1.6 million Instagram followers. “It’s a stain on the game we all love and I have loved since I was a boy.
“I need to take a deep breath and spend time with my family, friends and trusted advisers.
“You will hear from me in a few days.”
The fallout from the crisis has seen Warner dumped by sponsors ASICS and LG.
Along with Smith, he has also been ejected from this year’s Indian Premier League, losing contracts worth nearly US$2 million each.
Australia skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner have been banned for 12 months by Cricket Australia for their roles in the pre-meditated plan to tamper with the ball on the third day of the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
Cameron Bancroft, the player caught on camera attempting to doctor the ball with a piece of tape, has been banned for nine months, said the website, adding that an official announcement of their penalties is expected to be announced soon.
Cricket Australia had announced an independent review into “the conduct and culture” of the team, which the ACA said should examine the behaviour of administrators.
“Australia’s core values of respect, integrity and fairness must be brought to bear on the game of cricket through such a process,” it had said.
Warner lost the captaincy of his Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday after the cheating scandal left the team fractured amid mounting suspicion that the full story has not yet emerged.
Smith, Warner and Bancroft have been banished for their role in a ball-tampering incident which has dragged Australian cricket’s reputation through the mud; coach Darren Lehmann, however, is to remain in charge.
Smith had already been replaced as skipper of Rajasthan Royals team in the cash-rich Twenty20 competition due to start next month as the controversy rages on.
“In light of recent events, David Warner has stepped down as captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad,” Sunrisers chief executive K. Shanmugam said on the team’s official Twitter page.
Wicketkeeper Tim Paine will take over the captaincy of Australia for the fourth and final Test starting in Johannesburg Friday, with hosts South Africa leading a bad-tempered series 2-1 as Matt Renshaw, Glenn Maxwell and Joe Burns fly to South Africa to replace the exiled trio.
