David Warner won’t be missing the action when Australia take on England at Cardiff in the upcoming ODI series. If not on field, then from the commentary box. Seeing as he can’t get near the playing squad for a few more months as a result of the ball-tampering scandal, he will be a commentator during the second of the five-match ODI series that will be broadcast by Channel Nine’s main channel in Australia.
The series against England is the first assignment for new coach Justin Langer and newly appointed ODI captain Tim Paine.
“Dave is the best one-day and T20 batsman of the past decade so he’s perfectly placed to join our coverage for the UK series,” Nine’s director of sport Tom Malone was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
“People have tried to paint Dave as the villain in all this, but he’s been hurting as much as the others.
“We’ve had a professional relationship with Dave for five years now we’ve always found him to be a pretty normal and humble bloke. He just wants to atone for his mistakes and move on - I hope Australia gives all of them that chance.”
Warner was charged after it emerged he was the brain behind the ball-tampering saga during the third Test against South Africa in March, later accepting a 12-month ban by Cricket Australia for his role.
The opener and Steve Smith were drafted recently for the Global T20 Canada event starting June 28. He was Warner was selected in the third round of the draft by the Winnipeg Hawks, who took West Indies’ Dwayne Bravo and South African left-hander David Miller in the first and second rounds.
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