Warner and Smith welcomed back after their cricket ball-tampering scandal

I don’t like people who say they’ve changed their ways. So when David Warner proclaimed he was a ‘changed man’ it tipped my thoughts about him over the proverbial cliff. People don’t change, it’s one of the few things I like about them. I said I’d lose weight and concentrate on my degree this year. Much like myself, David failed, as if we are to go on the reports provided to us, he was the one who instigated ‘Sandpaper Gate’ last year.

To sum up the situation concisely, Warner and two others, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, were embroiled in a ball-tampering scandal. Bancroft was caught using sandpaper to rough up the ball during the Newlands test against South Africa, which would allow it to move more in the air, giving them an illegally gained advantage. Allegedly Warner, then vice-captain of the team, was the ringleader of the plot and pressured Bancroft into cheating. Scandalous right?

Warner and Smith were given heavy 12-month bans

It really was and they were all handed severe punishments. Bancroft being given a 9-month ban by Cricket Australia and Warner and Smith were given heavy 12-month bans. Warner was also banned from leadership positions for Australia permanently. That may seem a harsh punishment when a footballer only gets a yellow card for diving, however, the rules of the game are paramount in cricketing circles and any deliberate cheating is effectively sacrilege. Especially given how Warner used his position of power to pressure Bancroft into cheating. So, after the 12 months out, should we allow Smith and Warner to return to international cricket?

Let me first outline that I like Steve Smith. I’ve loved him through his days in the Pune Warriors India reserves and since his test debut as a leg-spinning all-rounder picked, in his own words, as someone to tell a few jokes and raise the team spirit. Basically, he is a cricketer with a good eye who has accidentally become the best batsmen in the world. What’s not to love? Yet both he and Warner have certainly broken the trust of not only the cricket community but also the Australian nation. For me, it’s pretty clear they should be allowed back in two senses.

Smith and Warner need to be a part of both sides for them to have a chance of winning anything this summer

In an Australian sense, their batting line-up is weak across all formats. Frankly, the only proven test match quality batsmen they’ve put out over the last 12 months is Usman Khawaja. Although Marcus Harris is a good player, he’ll struggle in England, Travis Head is all potential but no bite and the less that’s said about Aaron Finch the better. I’m a Kurtis Patterson fan for the test team, and the belated arrival of Ashton Turner on the international stage has boosted the one-day side but Smith and Warner need to be a part of both sides for them to have a chance of winning anything this summer. So they must be forgiven, in a pragmatic sense for Australian cricket, but also for the spectacle that is international sport. People want to see the best players in the world playing against each other.

Let’s not forget that they aren’t the first notable cricketers to face suspensions. We welcomed Shane Warne back after his drug ban and Mohammad Amir was allowed to return after his match-fixing offence. Of course, he was young and impressionable and easily diverted off the straight and narrow by the kind of toxic leadership and personality that Warner showed.

So it’s decided, they should come back. They both now head to India to compete in the glitz and glamour of the IPL. The standard of cricket is incredibly high so it’ll give them a chance to find form against the world’s best and should set them in good stead before the World Cup. David Warner has just cracked an 85 in his first game for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. A World Cup and an Ashes on the old enemy’s turf is a tough task but surely only a fool would bet against these great players.