Cricket News: Warner happy CA takes first step towards lifting leadership ban, Perry stars in WBBL thriller

David Warner is happy that he is a step closer to having his leadership ban revoked but said he considers himself a leader in the Australian team irrespective of whether he is formally appointed as skipper or vice-captain in the coming weeks.

Cricket Australia’s board gave the green light on Friday to a a possible amendment to the Code of Conduct in respect to long-term sanctions which would allow a person to request a penalty that they had accepted be reviewed after an appropriate period of time.

Currently the code states that once a charge and penalty is accepted, there is no avenue for review.

Warner and Sandpapergate cohorts Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft accepted their sanctions in 2018 without appeal so the only way for the opener to have his leadership ban lifted would be for the Code of Conduct to be reviewed.

CLICK HERE for a seven-day free trial to watch cricket on KAYO

“It is what it is but I’ve just got to accept the decision that’s handed down. There is talk that I might be able to have a chat to the integrity unit,” he told Fox Cricket on Friday night after being rested from the third T20 against England.

David Warner of Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)

“If that’s possible I’m happy just to sit down with them and chew the fat a little bit and see where we’re at. If it does get overturned we have to go from there but for me I’m a leader in this team no matter what so it doesn’t matter if you’ve got a C or a VC next to your name, you’ve got to put your best foot forward and lead by example.”

When asked if he would like to be Australia’s white-ball captain, he said: “If it ever presented itself it’d be a privilege but for me it’s about focusing on the next game and what I have to do for the team so at this point in time, that’s what I have to do.”

In a statement, CA said the “onus would be on the applicant to prove they had undergone genuine reform relevant to the offence they were sanctioned for. Any review would not revisit the original sanction, other than suspension of a penalty in recognition of genuine reform.”

The CA Head of Integrity will now be asked to propose an amendment to the code for consideration. CA announced it was “agreed that should an amendment in respect to long-term sanctions be adopted, any review of a penalty would be heard by an independent Code of Conduct Commission”.

Warner’s BBL franchise, Sydney Thunder, wants to know whether they can make him skipper when he lines up for them in January while he is also an outside chance to be captain or vice-captain for the national white-ball teams with Aaron Finch already retiring from the ODI side and expected to do likewise in the T20 arena after the World Cup in Australia which begins on Sunday.

He has repeatedly stated this year that he wants to talk with CA over the matter, after he was handed the ban in the wake of the 2018 ball-tampering affair.

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Warner can be thankful that Cricket Australia did not follow through with its original intention to slap him and Sandpapergate cohorts Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft with a liftetime suspension from playing.

According to a report published on Friday morning by the Sydney Morning Herald, CA officials led by the chair at the time, David Peever, discussed the drastic step after the scandal erupted in South Africa when Bancroft was uncovered using sandpaper to tamper with the ball during a 2018 Test against the Proteas in Cape Town.

Luckily for the trio, the officials a day later opted for the lesser punishments of a nine-month ban for Bancroft, one year for Smith and Warner. Smith was also ineligible to regain a leadership role for two years while Warner copped a lifetime leadership ban.

Finch and Test captain Pat Cummins have voiced their opinion that Warner should be able to hold a leadership position again, while his case will also be helped by his return to the Big Bash.

Players have said Warner remains an informal leader in the national set-up, with Mitch Marsh declaring as much earlier this week.

Warner would shape as a potential option for the one-day captaincy or vice-captaincy if his ban is lifted, but the process would not be straightforward before the next game in the format on November 17.

Cameron Bancroft of the Perth Scorchers. (Photo by Will Russell – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

Perry fires as Sixers seal win with a six

Ellyse Perry has made an early statement in her bid to win back an Australian Twenty20 spot, starring with bat and ball in the Sydney Sixers’ tournament-opening WBBL win over Brisbane.

Chasing the Heat’s 8-141 for victory, Perry hit 55 from 48 balls to help the Sixers claim victory with one ball and four wickets to spare in Mackay on Thursday night.

It came after the allrounder had taken 2-27 from her four overs with the ball, appearing to bowl with more control than in previous summers on return from a back injury.

Perry has not played a T20 international for Australia since last October, having missed out on selection in the shortest format during last summer’s Ashes and the Commonwealth Games.

However the retirement of Rachael Haynes and Meg Lanning’s personal leave have opened the door for a possible return, with several players vying for the top-order spots.

And Perry laid the first marker.

With her scoring rate previously the issue in T20 cricket, Perry struck seven fours in her innings against the Heat and made a point to go after the ball just as she did in the recent Hundred competition.

She at one point crunched a lovely cover drive for four off Courtney Sippel, before playing her signature cut shot the next ball to find the rope behind point.

The right-hander brought up her 50 off 42 balls when she pulled Nicola Hancock for four, before being caught trying to sweep Jess Jonassen (2-21).

Perry shared a 93-run fourth-wicket stand with Erin Burns, who notched up 50 from 37 balls.

The Sixers stalled when the pair both fell, before Maitlan Brown saved the Sixers’ night with a first-ball six off Georgia Voll when Sydney required five off the final two balls.

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Brown said.

“I was coming down the pitch before she even released it … and it paid off.”

Earlier, fellow national team candidate Georgia Redmayne impressed at the top of the order for the Heat.

The left-hander got off the mark with a glorious drive from Lauren Cheatle, and worked her way to 49 before hitting Cheatle straight to backward-square leg.

Redmayne also backed it up with the gloves, taking a smart stumping standing up to the wickets to quick Jess Kerr (2-17) to remove Ash Gardner when she overbalanced on two.

Teenage star Voll hit 32 for the Heat, before Brown dented Brisbane’s late charge with figures of 3-20 with the ball.