MELBOURNE: Despite David Warner's 35-year-old opening batter suffering a lifetime ban from leadership roles due to his involvement in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town, Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has endorsed Warner to become the next ODI captain.
Warner now has a chance to lead the team after Aaron Finch stepped down as Australia's ODI captain, but there are apparently a number of obstacles in the road, the biggest of which being that Cricket Australia (CA) needs to revise its code of conduct.
Following the incident, popularly known as the "sandpaper-gate controversy," three Australian cricketers (the then-skipper Steve Smith, his deputy Warner, and Cameron Bancroft) were suspended from playing in both domestic and international competitions for varying periods of time, not to exceed a year.
The incident that occurred during the Cape Town Test in 2018 not only led to the CA banning the trio, but also resulted in a two-year leadership role penalty for Smith and a lifetime leadership ban for Warner.
Warner has led the squad to success in multiple campaigns, including Australia's first title win at the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE last year, since he returned to the team after serving the suspension. He has also been acting perfectly, leading several current and past cricketers, including Test skipper Pat Cummins, to request that CA lift the veteran player's leadership ban.
Marsh, one of the 15 Australian players selected for the domestic ICC T20 World Cup, has praised Warner as a "fantastic leader." "Warner is a fantastic leader in our group. I certainly avoid having those chats when it comes to making any decisions. But it's terrific to have him on the team, "Marsh was cited by Daily Mail as adding.
Marsh was also vying for the position but decided against it. "To be really honest, I'm no longer in the race. For all of us, the thought of the (T20) World Cup is so thrilling that worrying about that type of thing (one-day captaincy) is simply off my radar right now" he said.
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