David Warner’s leadership ban has been lifted by Cricket Australia

By The Associated Press

FILE -Australia's David Warner bats during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup cricket match between Australia and Bangladesh in North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda, Thursday, June 20, 2024. David Warner’s lifetime captaincy and leadership ban has been lifted by Cricket Australia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, a move which could see the retired test player captain the Sydney Thunder in the Twenty20 Big Bash league this season.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Lynne Sladky]

SYDNEY (AP) — David Warner’s lifetime captaincy and leadership ban has been lifted by Cricket Australia, a move which could see the retired test player captain the Sydney Thunder in the Twenty20 Big Bash league this season. Warner received the penalty for his role in the 2018 sandpaper scandal in South Africa, on top of a one-year ban from cricket, which was also imposed on Steve Smith with a lesser playing suspension given to Cameron Bancroft, who was caught on film rubbing the ball with yellow sandpaper at a test match in Cape Town. But the leadership sanction was lifted Friday by an independent three-member review panel who deemed the opener had met the necessary criteria.