‘Not prepared to subject my family to further trauma’: David Warner slams the captaincy ban review panel

Australian opener David Warner has come down hard at the legal counsel, who was assisting the independent committee in reviewing his lifetime captaincy ban, saying that the comments made by them were offensive and unhelpful.

Warner has issued a five-page-long explosive statement against the review panel with the title “My family is more important to me than cricket.” He has clearly mentioned that the review panel acted opposite to Cricket Australia’s findings and want to conduct a public spectacle out of him at the expense of his family.

Announcing his decision to withdraw his application to challenge the lifetime captaincy ban, Warner took to Instagram and wrote: “Over the course of the past nearly five years since the events that occurred during the Third Test in Cape Town, even with all the humiliation and attacks that they have had to endure, I have enjoyed the unwavering support and love of my wife Candice and my three daughters, Ivy Mae, Indi Rae, and Isla Rose. They are my world.

“Since that Test and even though my ban from leadership roles may never be lifted, I have taken it upon myself to reform, to rehabilitate and to transform my approach to the game.

“I have served and been subject to a crushing, unprecedented, penalty that has horribly impacted me and my family for the past nearly five years – without the prospect of any relief until now.

“I held the hope and was encouraged that I would be given a proper opportunity to demonstrate to the review panel that I have demonstrated ?my deep regret and remorse, and that my rehabilitation and transformation are profound.

“I hoped I would be given the opportunity, under the established practice and procedure of the code of conduct that is reflected in the amendments, to demonstrate that I have satisfied the necessary requirements for a modification to my ban and that I might be permitted to see out the balance of my career without the yoke hanging around my neck and further anguish for my family.”

Warner also stated that he does not want his family to be the “washing machine for cricket’s dirty laundry”. He does not want his family and teammates to go through all the trauma again and hence has made the decision to withdraw.

“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 establish a novel approach that would negatively impact the health and welfare of my family and the interests 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.

“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.

“Counsel Assisting and the review panel appeared to be determined to revisit the events of March 2018 and the review panel appears determined to expose me and my family to further humiliation and harm by conducting a media circus.

“It appears the panel has given no more than passing consideration to issues of player welfare and the interests of Australian cricket and is instead determined to conduct a public lynching.”

“Regrettably, I have no practical alternative at this point of 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 Code of Conduct.

“Some things are more important than cricket,” the southpaw added.

Currently, Warner is playing the two-match Test series against West Indies. While Australia won the first game comprehensively, the left-handed batter scored 5 runs in the first innings and 48 in the second.