Image courtesy of: ABC News
Warner could be sent home as a result of his altercation with Root
Australia’s flamboyant opening batsman David Warner has found himself in hot water again after he was stood down for his side’s clash with New Zealand in the Champions Trophy for allegedly getting into a physical altercation with England batsman Joe Root.
While Warner has just been stood down for the moment, his punishment could become much worse, including the possibility of being sent home, when Cricket Australia hold a Code of Behaviour hearing, which they said would be organised as soon as possible.
Warner was reported for his altercation and Cricket Australia confirmed that he “was allegedly involved in a physical altercation with an England player in the early hours of Sunday morning following the ICC Champions Trophy match between the teams in Birmingham”.
However, with details being sketchy at the moment, Warner will be praying that this altercation does not carry any ramifications towards his place in Australia’s Ashes squad.
Cricket Australia also confirmed that Warner had been charged under Rule 6 of the Code of Behaviour, which states: “Players and officials must not at any time engage in behaviour unbecoming to a representative player or official that could (a) bring them or the game of game into disrepute or (b) be harmful to the interests of cricket.”
This is the second time in just under a month that Warner has been involved in a Code of Behaviour hearing after he was fined $5750 last month for launching a tirade on Twitter against two News Limited journalists – Robert Craddock and Malcolm Conn.
Following Cricket Australia’s announcement, Warner said: “I just want to draw a line under all of this and move forward.”
Even if Australia are without Warner for their match against New Zealand, it may not prove to be that harmful as the opener has been struggling to score runs in the tournament.
Since arriving in England, Warner has made ducks in both of Australia’s warm-up matches and could only muster a dismal score of nine in his side’s 48-run loss to arch-rivals England.
With Warner being stood down for the match against New Zealand, there is a good chance that all-rounder Glenn Maxwell will replace him as he is the only recognised batsman amongst all the reserves.