DAVID WARNER has been exposed as the ringleader of the tampering scandal who showed Cameron Bancroft how to sandpaper the ball.
The opening batsman, 31, has become the pariah of world cricket and looks unlikely ever to play for Australia again.
An explosive statement by Cricket Australia left their former vice-captain a man alone, condemned by administrators, shunned by team-mates and vilified by former players.
Now Warner could try to exact revenge by telling his version of events and drag more players into the row.
Warner and captain Steve Smith have been banned from all international and Australian domestic cricket for a year, while Bancroft got nine months.
Former England batsman Jonathan Trott, who was mocked by Warner for having “scary eyes” days before he flew home from the 2013-14 Ashes with a stress-related illness, tweeted “Goodbye David” with a waving hand emoji.
And ex-skipper Michael Vaughan wrote: “Steve Smith I think is a good guy who made a huge mistake . . . he needed punishing but I think this is too harsh.
“Bancroft, who I don’t know, was led astray but deserved punishing but again too harshly IMO . . . the other guy I really don’t care about.”
That sums up the views of the cricket world. While there is some sympathy for sacked captain Smith and Bancroft, the reaction towards Warner is nothing other than goodbye and good riddance.
Warner was revealed to have devised the plan during the lunch interval on day three of the Third Test against South Africa.
The astonishing disclosures begged the question — if Warner had never ball-tampered before, how did he know how to teach Bancroft?
WARNER'S SEVEN CHARGES
- Planned to artificially alter the ball’s condition.
- Instructed a junior player to carry out the plan.
- Advised a junior player how to alter the ball.
- Failed to take steps to prevent the plan.
- Failed to report the plan during AND after the match.
- Misled officials by concealing the plan.
The trio were also accused by Cricket Australia of lying to umpires as the scandal unfolded in Cape Town last Saturday.
Smith and Bancroft also misled their evening press conference when they claimed they had used sticky tape impregnated with dirt. In fact, it was sandpaper.
Warner and Smith have also been told they will not be welcome at the Indian Premier League next month, each losing deals worth more than £1million, and will be shunned by English county cricket.
Smith and Bancroft will not be considered for team leadership positions for a year after their bans, while Warner will never again be captain, vice-captain or in any leadership role.
All three will also undertake 100 hours of community service.
SMITH'S FIVE CHARGES
- Knowledge of a plan to artificially alter the condition of the ball.
- Failure to take steps to prevent that plan.
- Directing evidence of attempted tampering to be concealed on the field of play.
- Misled match officials regarding the plan.
- Made misleading public comments over the plan.
Smith is expected to express remorse, try to rehabilitate his reputation and return from his suspension in time to play in the World Cup and Ashes in England in 2019.
Television cameras captured Bancroft rubbing sandpaper on the ball and, after 12th man Peter Hanscomb ran on to the field following a walkie-talkie conversation with head coach Darren Lehmann, shoved it into his pants.
When umpires Richard Illingworth and Nigel Llong asked what Bancroft had in his pocket, he showed them his sunglasses bag.
After Cricket Australia’s head of integrity Iain Roy and high-performance chief Pat Howard interviewed players and management, Warner was found guilty of seven separate findings.
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The most damning charges read: “(a) Development of a plan to attempt to artificially alter the condition of the ball. (b) Instruction to a junior player (Bancroft) to carry out a plan to take steps to attempt to artificially alter the condition of the ball using sandpaper.
“(c) Provision of advice to a junior player regarding how a ball could be artificially altered, including demonstrating how it could be done.”
It suggests Warner knew exactly how to tamper with the ball and was an experienced practitioner in the dark art.
And that makes a mockery of claims the Australians have never previously tampered.
BANCROFT'S FIVE CHARGES
- Knowledge of the plan to artificially alter the ball using sandpaper.
- Carrying out instructions to alter the ball.
- Seeking to conceal evidence of altering the ball.
- Misleading the match officials.
- Made misleading public comments over the plan.
Do not forget, Warner revealed to stunned England players during their post-Ashes drinks how he uses special strapping on his hand against the ball.
Now a furious Warner is in the mood to turn his back on international cricket and become a globe-trotting Twenty20 gun for hire.
He will have to wait for the big bucks because, as well as being blocked from the IPL, he cannot play in next winter’s Big Bash in Australia.
One source told SunSport Warner believes he has been made a scapegoat and that other players and team management DID know of the plot.
A dressing-room schism has developed in recent days, with Australia’s fast bowlers furiously rejecting Warner’s claims and insisting they knew nothing about Bancroft’s illegal scuffing.
Warner on Tuesday removed himself from the players’ WhatsApp group and looked an increasingly isolated figure.
Legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne, once banned for a year for taking an illegal substance, thinks the punishment is too harsh.
He acknowledged their actions were “un-Australian” but added: “My punishment would have been to miss the Fourth Test against South Africa on Friday, a huge fine and be sacked as captain and vice-captain.
“But they should still be allowed to play after that.”
MY VIEW By John Etheridge
A ONE-YEAR ban is the correct decision for David Warner and Steve Smith — it is tough but not excessive.
Australia’s ball-tampering last week was not a spontaneous decision foolishly taken in the heat of battle. It was cynically calculated and planned.
South Africa were in control of the Third Test so, at lunch on the third day, Warner and Smith wondered how they could alter the momentum of the match.
Warner’s suggestion was to use sticky sandpaper — and Smith went along with it even though they knew it was illegal.
They co-opted Cameron Bancroft, the least experienced player, into their scheme.
Cheating in other sports — such as drug-taking in cycling or athletics — often brings a two-year ban. How can you cheat in cricket?
Drugs are less of an issue but one unequivocal way to cheat is to scuff up the ball to try to help it swing more.
So, yes, a one-year ban is fair. Shane Warne was given a year for taking an illegal substance and Mohammad Amir received five years and a jail sentence for deliberately bowling no-balls.
The reaction in Australia and across the globe shows how seriously many cricket fans regard cheating.
And, of course, years of sledging and boorish on-field behaviour by the Aussies ensured leniency would not be shown towards Smith, Warner and Bancroft.
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