'I am not a criminal': David Warner hits out Cricket Australia over captaincy saga

Australian opener David Warner has hit out at Cricket Australia (CA) over his lifetime captaincy ban, urging them to modify their code of conduct regarding player suspensions from taking on leadership roles. Cricket Australia banned Warner for a year for his role in the ball-tampering controversy that rocked the cricketing world in 2018.

While Warner and former captain Steve Smith received one-year suspensions, Cameron Bancroft received a nine-month suspension. Warner was also barred from serving in any leadership capacity for the Australian national team for the rest of his career, with CA slapping a lifetime ban on him.

CA, on the other hand, said on Monday that it had changed its code of conduct, which previously stated that players do not have the opportunity to have a sentence reviewed once it has been accepted.

Warner expressed his displeasure at a Kayo Sports promotion event on Monday that was not organized by CA.

"I'm not a criminal," Warner said. "You should get a right of an appeal at some stage. I understand that they put a ban in place but banning someone for life, I think it's a bit harsh.

"Where it's been disappointing, it's taken this long to get to where it has. It was brought up in I think February this year. So it's been drawn out. It's traumatic for me and my family and everyone else that was involved in it. We haven't needed to go back into that detail. We don't need to relive what happened."

Warner was particularly irritated by how he was portrayed in this process, which occurred at a time when Australia was through a leadership transition in limited-overs cricket. Aaron Finch announced his retirement from the One-Day International team in September. In October, Pat Cummins was named ODI captain, with a larger leadership group sitting beneath him, all while Warner remained ineligible to lead his country in any format.

"It's frustrating because we could have done this about nine months ago when it was first brought up," Warner said. "It's unfortunate that obviously Finchy retired and then they sort of fast-tracked it in their own way. But it's a tad disappointing that when you make a decision in 2018, it's in four days, and then this takes nine months.

"So that's the hardest thing. It actually makes me look like I'm campaigning, which I'm totally not. So from my perspective, that's where it's been disappointing.

Warner, 36, has been ready to return to a leadership role since his CA leadership ban, and the current Australian selection panel has been eager to fix Warner's issue as they try to extend their leadership possibilities, particularly in limited overs cricket.

Warner has indicated that he wants to continue playing international cricket until the 2024 T20 World Cup, when Australia would likely need a new T20I skipper.

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