David Warner to don new role as cricket commentator for England vs Australia match

David Warner, who has been banned for one year by Cricket Australia for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in the Cape Town Test versus South Africa, will be on commentary duties for the second ODI between England and Australia.

David Warner, currently serving a one-year ban for his role in the ball-tampering controversy on South Africa tour, will be donning the new role of a commentator when he joins the Channel Nine TV team for next Saturday’s ODI between Australia and England.

David Warner has put his name for the Northern Territory Strike League next month in Australia as he serves his one-year ban for his role in the ball-tampering scandal. (REUTERS)

Warner will be commentating on the second of the five-match ODI series between the two arch rivals to be played at Cardiff.

“Dave is the best one-day and T20 batsman of the past decade so he’s perfectly placed to join our coverage for the UK series. People have tried to paint Dave as the villain in all this, but he’s been hurting as much as the others,” Channel Nine’s director of sport Tom Malone told cricket.com.au. “We’ve had a professional relationship with Dave for five years now we’ve always found him to be a pretty normal and humble bloke. He just wants to atone for his mistakes and move on — I hope Australia gives all of them that chance,” Malone added.

The ball-tampering scandal that broke out on Day Three of the Cape Town Test saw Warner, Australia captain Steve Smith and opener Cameron Bancroft being handed out bans. Warner and Smith were banned from all cricket for 12 months, whereas Bancroft was given a nine-month ban. However, all three cricketers are on comeback trails with Warner and Smith signing up for the Global T20 tournament in Canada whereas Warner and Bancroft have also put in their names for the Northern Territory Strike League next month in Australia.

Despite Cricket Australia (CA) signing an AUD 1.182 billion telecast deal with Seven Network and Fox Sports earlier this year, Channel Nine has the contract to broadcast two Ashes series in England — 2015 and 2019 — as well as limited-overs series.