Candice, the wife of veteran Australia opener David Warner, has expressed frustration over the lifetime leadership ban on her husband, calling it “injustice”.
While Candice admitted that she is affected by the ban, she revealed her husband remains unperturbed as “he can go and captain in the UAE, he can go and captain in India where people appreciate his cricketing brain and what he can bring to a team.”
Candice opened up on this matter while speaking on Triple M, an Australian commercial radio network.
Australian cricket was shaken to the core after cameras had caught Bancroft using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball during the Cape Town test in 2018. As a result, then captain Steve Smith and his deputy Warner were handed 12-month bans while Bancroft copped a nine-month suspension under Cricket Australia's Code of Conduct.
Moreover, a lifetime leadership ban was also imposed on Warner by Cricket Australia.
Talking about the one-year suspension period, Candice said: “My job wasn’t to question my husband, it was about supporting David at that time.”
“For me, it was about being his strength as much as I could be. I didn’t think too much about anything. There were definitely times where as a family it was like “what’s next”.
“But you take each day as it comes and there were plenty of opportunities for David to play in Canada and in the Caribbean. There are definitely times when as an athlete you go, ‘okay well, I could go sit there and get really upset or I set goals moving forward’.
Candice mentioned questions have been raised over Warner's lack of involvement in the Big Bash League and it may have to do with the leadership ban.
However, she defended her husband’s reluctance to play in the BBL, saying Warner represents the country in all three formats and needs to spend time with the family as well.
“David has an incredible T20 record in India, in Australia, he’s one of our best ever,” Candice said.
“Regardless of whether the ban is lifted of not, if he plays Big Bash, it’s a decision we talk about what’s best for the family in this period.
“Also there’s another league going on in the UAE, which financially (has) much bigger money. It’s not just a matter of lifting Dave’s ban, it’s a matter of what’s best for our family. And Dave’s just accepted he has this ban now."
