David Warner has welcomed the chance to have his lifetime ban from captaining Australia reviewed following a change in Cricket Australia's (CA) code of conduct, while lamenting the delay in allowing him to appeal.
CA ruled that the opening batter would never hold a leadership role again due to his part in the 2018 Newlands ball-tampering scandal.
Warner, who was said to have played a key role in Cameron Bancroft using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball during the Test against South Africa in Cape Town, had been touted as a candidate to replace Aaron Finch as ODI skipper following his retirement from the format in September.
While Pat Cummins was named as Finch's successor last month, the door may be open to Warner captaining his country in the future after CA amended its code of conduct.
Players were previously unable to appeal against sanctions after accepting them, but Warner is relieved to have the opportunity to seek a review of his ban under a new policy.
"I'm not a criminal," Warner said on Monday. "You should get a right of an appeal at some stage. I understand that they put a ban in place, but banning someone for life, I think it's a bit harsh.
"Where it's been disappointing is it's taken this long to get to where it has. It was brought up in I think February this year. So it's been drawn out.
"It's traumatic for me and my family and everyone else that was involved in it. We haven't needed to go back into that detail. We don't need to relive what happened.
"But it's good to get in a position where we are now today. It gives me an opportunity to ring up the integrity unit to have a word to them and put forward my case of, I guess, the 100 hours [of community service] that I did in 2018.
"Basically, all this good behaviour stuff that I've done, I think I have to put forward, so I'm happy to do that."
In a statement released on Monday, CA said: "Players and support staff can now apply to have long-term sanctions modified.
"Any applications will be considered by a three-person review panel, comprising independent code of conduct commissioners, which must be satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist to justify modifying a sanction."
CA's new policy allows for the panel to modify punishments if it is felt the recipient has "demonstrated genuine remorse" or shown good behaviour since the ruling, while they will also consider the length of time which has passed since a sanction was issued.
Dr. Donovan Bennett defeats Billy Heaven in JCA Presidential election
Dr. Donovan Bennett is the new president of the Jamaica Cricket Association after defeating Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven at Thursday’s elections at the 20th JCA Annual General Meeting held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Bennett, who served as JCA vice-president for 11 years, is set for his first term at the helm after a 67-30 victory.
Heaven served as JCA president for the last 10 years and was seeking a fifth term.
New Zealand take unassailable series lead after hard-fought victory over Pakistan
Pakistan slumped to a four-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand despite the efforts of Abbas Afridi and Fakhar Zaman.
The Black Caps took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series, thanks in the main to Tim Robinson (51) and bowling duo William O'Rourke (3-27) and Ben Sears (2-27) on Thursday.
Set a target of 179 to win, Pakistan looked on their way to victory when Fakhar Zaman got going, but he was eventually dismissed on 61 by Sears.
Abbas took three wickets in New Zealand's innings, yet he could only contribute a single run to Pakistan's cause as the hosts fell just short in Lahore.
Data Debrief
Shadab Khan did not bowl a single delivery for Pakistan, which is the first time that has happened in a completed T20I innings.
He did take an exceptional catch to dismiss Mark Chapman, but it was not enough to inspire Pakistan.
IPL: Kohli and Patidar star to snap RCB's losing streak
Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended a six-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League by claiming a convincing 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Bengaluru still sit bottom of the standings, but have reason to cheer after Virat Kohli's 51 and Rajat Patidar's 20-ball 50 got the job done in style on Thursday.
Cameron Green chipped in with a useful 37 as RCB reached 206-7 from their 20 overs, and the Australian then took 2-12 with the ball as the Sunrisers failed to get going.
Shahbaz Ahmed top scored for Sunrisers with 40 not-out, but it was not enough as they only mustered 171-8 in response.
Data Debrief
Thursday's match marked Jaydev Unadkat's 100th in the IPL, and though he finished on the losing side, he did take a memorable three-for to celebrate the occasion.
It was Unadkat who dismissed Kohli, Patidar and Mahipal Lomror, finishing with figures of 3-30.
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