'Some things are more important than cricket' - Furious David Warner withdraws application to be considered for captaincy

David Warner and Steve Smith made a comeback to the Australian cricket team in 2019 and started afresh after facing a ban in 2018. They were found guilty in the ball-tampering scandal during the Test match against South Africa, which led to harsh consequences. Cricket Australia’s amendments even led to Warner and Smith getting a chance of coming back to captaincy roles.

On November 21, 2022, the board made amendments to the Cricket Australia Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which permitted the players to apply for a modification in the long-term sanctions. Hearing the news, Warner put in his application for a modification to his lifetime ban from leadership roles in cricket.

But everything has fallen out of place for Warner. He revealed that his application, which he submitted in good faith following the regulations of the Code of Conduct, was not taken well by the Counsel Assisting the Review Panel. As a result, keeping in mind the welfare of his family and the team, he dropped his request to have the lifetime captaincy ban lifted.

Sharing his experience in detail, he took to Instagram and wrote:

“Despite my opposition and that of Cricket Australia, on Tuesday last week Counsel Assisting the Review Panel and the Review Panel took it upon themselves to concoct an irregular procedure (overturning presumptions and previous practice) for the determination of my application and established a novel approach that would negatively impact the health and welfare of my family and the interest of the Australian Cricket team.”

“In his submissions, Counsel Assisting made offensive and unhelpful comments about me that had absolutely no substantive purpose under the Code of Conduct. Regrettably, the Review Panel acted contrary to the submissions of Cricket Australia and my lawyer, and appeared to adopt virtually entirely the position of Counsel Assisting,” he added.

“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,” Warner wrote in detail.

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I am not prepared to subject my family or my teammates to further trauma: Warner

Warner revealed that he submitted the application adhering to the rules of the code of conduct. He even mentioned what Article 10.7 states (the hearing is not an appeal of the original decision or a new review of the offense). He went on to say that the Counsel Assisting the Review Panel looked determined to expose him and his family to more humiliation and harm by steering ‘a media circus’.

With the support of Cricket Australia, he submitted a request to the Review Panel urging them to revisit their decision with respect to the Code of Conduct. A week later, the panel ignored his request and rejected his appeal, which led to Warner taking a bold career decision. He withdrew his application saying that he could not see his family or teammates going through any trauma.

“It appears that the panel has given no more than passing consideration to issues of player welfare and the interest of Australian cricket and is instead determined to conduct a public lynching. Regrettably, I have no practical alternative at this point in time but to withdraw my application. I am not prepared to subject my family or my teammates to further trauma and disruption by accepting a departure from the way in which my application should be dealt with pursuant to the Code of Conduct. Some things are more important than cricket,” he concluded.