SYDNEY (Reuters) – David Warner says he still considers leadership roles a privilege and is ready to talk to Cricket Australia about ending the ban imposed on him for his part in the Newlands ball-tampering incident.
The 35-year-old was banned from the elite game for a year and from leadership positions for life by Cricket Australia after he was adjudged to have played the leading role in the 2018 scandal.
Australia have a vacancy as one-day international captain after Aaron Finch decided to step down on the back of a poor run of form and there is no guarantee he will continue as Twenty20 skipper after the upcoming World Cup.
“Any opportunity you get asked to captain or whatnot, it’s a privilege,” Warner told Fox Sports on Tuesday.
“For my circumstances, that’s in Cricket Australia’s hands and I can only concentrate on what I have to do, and that’s using the bat and trying to get as many runs as I can.
“My phone’s here. At the end of the day, what’s done in the past is done. There’s a new board and I’m always happy to sit down and have a chat about anything.”
Test captain Pat Cummins, who is the favourite to take over the ODI side, and several former Australia players have been lobbying in the media for Warner’s ban to be rescinded.
Warner said it was by no means certain that Finch would also walk away from the shortest form of the international game.
“He hasn’t said if he’s going to finish after the World Cup from Twenty20 cricket,” he added.
“Obviously, we all back him and support him 100%. He loves the short form of the game as well. I’m sure he’ll go back to the nets and work hard and work out what he needs to do to put runs on the board.”
Australia’s T20 World Cup title defence gets underway against New Zealand in Sydney on Oct. 22.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
