Cricket Australia (CA) has lifted the life-time captaincy ban imposed on David Warner, allowing him to potentially lead the Big Bash League (BBL) team Sydney Thunder.

The lifetime ban, which stemmed from the infamous ball-tampering scandal in 2018, had barred Warner from holding any leadership role within the Australian cricket setup. It was part of a broader fallout from the ball-tampering incident during a Test match against South Africa, which resulted in significant scrutiny and criticism of the Australian cricket culture. Warner, along with Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, faced severe penalties, including suspensions and bans from leadership roles.

Cricket Australia’s statement on the upliftment of captaincy ban on David Warner

Earlier this month, Warner made his case before a three-member independent panel, which concluded that the 37-year-old had met all the requirements for the ban to be lifted immediately.

“The respectful and contrite tone of his 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 stated as quoted by Cricbuzz.

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“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.”

Written endorsements to lift the ban

The panel also received written endorsements from current Australian Test captain Pat Cummins, head coach Andrew McDonald, former captain Greg Chappell, and former women’s team captain  Lisa Sthalekar.

Additionally, letters of support came from New Zealand superstar Kane Williamson, who was Warner’s teammate at Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

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