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Cricket Players‘They were told to do ball-tampering in Hobart’: David Warner's manager reveals amid leadership ban controversy
After David Warner pulled out of appeal to overturn his leadership ban, his manager James Erskine has further opened a can of worms by adding new aspects to the ball tampering scandal that had shocked the cricket world, four years ago.
Australia opener David Warner has withdrawn his appeal to overturn the leadership ban which was imposed on him for his involvement in ball tampering in the third Test match between Australia and South Africa in 2018. He had earlier appealed to reverse the ban with the hope that he might get an official leadership role to play in the Australia team in the wake of doubt over Aaron Finch's captaincy after the team's dismal performance in the T20 World Cup 2022.
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Warner disclosed that the Review Panel formed to look into his appeal, was attempting to conduct a public trial of sorts which might affect his family's health and welfare. He further revealed that he was withdrawing his application for the modification to his life-time ban from leadership positions in cricket.
"In effect, Counsel Assisting, and, it appears, to some extent the Review Panel, want to conduct a public trial of me and what occurred during the Third Test at Newlands. They want to conduct a public spectacle to, in the Panel’s words, have a “cleansing”. I am not prepared for my family to be the washing machine for cricket’s dirty laundry. My family is more important to me than cricket," posted Warner on Instagram.
After Warner's bombshell, his manager James Erskine has further opened a can of worms by adding new aspects to the ball tampering scandal that had shocked the cricket world, four years ago.
“When the truth comes out, everyone’s going to turn around and say ‘well, why was David Warner picked upon?’” Erskine told SEN 1170.
“The truth will come out. Let me tell you. Someone will... there’s lots of people. There’s two cricketers who put their hands up and said ‘why don’t we all just tell the truth? They can’t fire all of us’. That’s what happened,” he added.
Talking further, Erskine made a reference to an incident after the 2016 Hobart Test against South Africa, where Australia were bowled out for 85, and eventually lost by an innings and 80 runs.
“Two senior executives were in the changing room in Hobart (in 2016) and basically were berating the team for losing against South Africa – and Warner said that we’ve got to reverse swing the ball and the only way we can reverse swing the ball is basically by tampering with it – and so they were told to do it,” he revealed.
“I’m completely against it, I think tampering with balls is a joke, but it has gone on for centuries. Everybody has been fiddling around with balls and the penalty at the time by the ICC was a one-match ban,” he added.
