Just days after expressing his willingness to reconsider his retirement, David Warner is once again making headlines. The 37-year-old has been granted permission to captain the Sydney Thunder in the upcoming Big Bash League (BBL). Warner had previously been handed a lifetime ban in the aftermath of the 2018 sandpaper scandal.
Cricket Australia's (CA) Conduct Commission has lifted Warner's ban, following a unanimous decision by an independent three-member Review Panel. “The respectful and contrite tone of his (Warner’s) responses, as well as the content impressed the Review Panel and led it to the unanimous view that he was sincere and genuine in acknowledging responsibility for the conduct and in his statement that he had extreme remorse for his conduct,” the panel said in its decision published on Friday. “Mr Warner’s conduct and behaviour since the imposition of the sanction has been excellent and he appears to have made a substantial change, one example of which is that he no longer sledges or tries to provoke the opposing team.
“The Review Panel is more than satisfied that Mr Warner will not engage in any conduct similar to that which occurred in 2018 which resulted in the sanction and that the sanction has thus had the relevant quality of specific deterrence.” Cricket Australia did not oppose Warner's challenge to the ban and has confirmed that he is now eligible to assume leadership roles in all Australian cricket competitions. “In 2022 we updated the Co.