CA chief breaks silence on Warner saga after being blasted for ‘losing control’

Australian Cricketers' Association chief Todd Greenberg feels that David Warner had no other option in hand but to withdraw his his leadership ban appeal and rather blasted Cricket Australia for "losing control" and "lacking common sense". However, CA chief executive officer Nick Hockley has broken his silence on the backlash the board has been facing over the Warner saga, saying that he was disappointed when the senior batter had withdrawn the appeal.

Four years after that infamous sandpaper incident in South Africa during a Test series, Warner had appealed for overturn his captaincy ban, but sensationally withdrew from the process claiming that the panel wanted to make the hearing public, and calling it "a public lynching". And Greenberg felt that it never should have gotten to that point.

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"The moment Cricket Australia outsourced the review, in my view, they lost control of that process," Greenberg told SEN sports radio. "Why the panel decided the issue needed to be a public hearing after both CA and David agreed the matter be held privately is beyond me, and I think lacks a real level of common sense. "The process became a long way removed from the one David agreed to participate in, that's why I don't think David had much choice to do what he did."

Speaking on the matter, Hockley clarified that CA had supported Warner's request to hold the review meeting privately, but was the three-member panel who felt the need to enlist a group of journalist to be be present at the hearing.

"We felt that it was appropriate it was in private, and we made that application to the commissioners," Hockley told reporters during the second NRMA Insurance Test in Adelaide today. "In coming back, they didn't rule out the fact that elements could be in private, but they wanted that to be on application at the time, in light of what was being discussed.

"Because independence and transparency is in line with best practice, and there's a huge amount of public interest in this, the commissioners felt it was appropriate in these circumstances for there to be a level of transparency.

"The sports world globally is under the microscope around their integrity processes.

"I make no apology for the fact we've engaged with the best people, that we've got best-in-class governance and that we run a proper, fair, independent process … that's in line with best practice, including the mandatory standards of Sports Integrity Australia."

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