David Warner will be able to make his case to be reconsidered for captaincy after Cricket Australia ratified a change to its code of conduct to allow penalties to be reviewed on the condition of good behaviour.
Banned for life from leadership after the 2018 Newlands ball-tampering scandal, Warner will now be able to request a review of that sanction before a panel of three code of conduct commissioners, a process that could happen as soon as a hearing can be arranged.
Warner, Cameron Bancroft and Steve Smith were all handed playing bans following the scandal, and Smith was suspended from captaincy roles for two years. Warner’s lifetime suspension, insisted upon by the Cricket Australia board of the day, created more complications for the governing body.
David Warner will get the chance to state his case for an end to his leadership ban.Credit:AP
The Sydney Thunder had made a request, via Cricket New South Wales, that Warner’s ban be reviewed to enable him to be considered for leadership of the Big Bash League club after he signed to play four or five games for them in January next year. CA’s board approved a review of the code of conduct at its October meeting.
But that request was subject to a review of the code of conduct, which until now had provided no way back for a player who had accepted a sanction, as Warner, Smith and Bancroft had all done in 2018.
The code had not been designed to enforce the kind of lifetime leadership ban imposed by the board, leading to a lengthy consultation between the current directors, chaired by Lachlan Henderson, the CA chief executive Nick Hockley and the head of integrity, Jacqui Partridge.
Discussions of the possibility of amending the code centred around the legal concept of parole and good behaviour bonds, in the knowledge that the new process had to be rigorous enough to ensure that enforcement of the code itself was not compromised.
“Under the changes, players and support staff can now apply to have long-term sanctions modified,” Cricket Australia said in statement.
“Any applications will be considered by a three-person review panel, comprising independent code of conduct commissioners, which must be satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist to justify modifying a sanction.
“These circumstances and considerations will include whether the subject of the sanction has demonstrated genuine remorse; the subject’s conduct and behaviour since the imposition of the sanction; whether rehabilitation programs have been completed undertaken (if applicable) and the length of time that has passed since the sanction was imposed and whether sufficient time has passed to allow for reform or rehabilitation.”
The code of conduct now: “Acknowledges that players and player support personnel are capable of genuine reform or rehabilitation and is intended to provide the player or player support personnel with an opportunity to resume their previously held positions or responsibilities in specific circumstances.”
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