David Warner’s wife has leapt to his defence after an ugly on-field sledge saw him storm off the cricket pitch.
Speaking on Channel Nine’s Sports Sunday, Candice Warner said the vicious comments left her husband reeling.
‘I’m not going to go into the details however David was taken aback by the comments and thought they went a little bit too far, so he decided to remove himself from the game,’ she said.
Candice Warner jumped to her husband’s defence this morning after he walked off the pitch yesterday following a sledging incident
David Warner (pictured) is turning out for Randwick-Petersham while he is suspended from first class cricket for 12 months
Candice Warner (pictured left) on her way to lunch with husband David at Bondi Iceburgs on Sunday
‘Everyone has their own opinion but I think there’s a difference between sledging and abuse.
‘I’m not going to get into what was said, but yesterday went too far.
‘I think he removed himself because he first of all didn’t like what he was hearing and where that could have been taken. It was very hurtful.’
Warner is known for his combative nature.
So when representing Randwick-Peterham in the round four NSW Premier Cricket clash at Pratten Park, he left opposing players from the Magpies stunned after he briefly left the crease following the sledging.
On Saturday, cricket fans were up in arms over Warner’s hypocrisy.
One pointed out Warner was more than willing to ‘dish it out..then you cop it’ while another labelled the destructive batsman a ‘waste of space.’
Twitter user ‘Booze Hound’ believes ‘You dish it out, you cop it.’
This user has no sympathy for Warner, labelling him a ‘waste of space’
Another user believes Warner ‘deserves all the sledging he gets’
User Pete Bancroft stated Warner ‘Gives it out. Can’t take it.’
Twitter user Steven Nicholson questioned Warner’s on field memory
Steve Fisher labelled the hostile situation ironic given Warner’s reputation
Matt Harvey stated ‘irony has peaked’, also laughing at Warner ‘taking the moral high ground’
It is understood that Warner felt the level of sledging was ‘too intense’ and of ‘a personal nature’.
After a three minute delay, he returned to the field, eventually blasting a classy 157 with the willow.
The on-field sledging was from Jason Hughes, who labelled Warner a ‘disgrace’ and ‘weak.’
Jason Hughes is the older brother of Phil Hughes, the former Australian batsman who tragically passed away in 2014.
Phil Hughes and Warner were close, rising through the ranks as elite junior cricketers from NSW before both going on to wear the baggy green.
‘He (Warner) was flat and down,’ Randwick-Petersham team manager Bill Anderson said when reflecting on the potentially ugly on-field incident.
‘He felt what had been said was very offensive to him but he realised that he had to play. He turned around and back out he went.’
Warner was also fortunate the umpires and players from Wests allowed him to return to the crease.
The laws of the game state once a batsman walks off, they cannot return.
Warner, 32, is currently serving a 12-month suspension from first class cricket following the ball tampering incident against South Africa in March.
While the majority of the Australian sporting public is slowly forgiving deposed captain Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, Warner remains a polarising figure.
Time will tell if he eventually redeems himself in the eyes of cricket fans across the globe.
The Warner family after a Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground where Australia won the Ashes
Banned Australian cricketer David Warner on his way to lunch on Sunday at Bondi Iceburgs
David Warner (pictured left) with wife Candice – the former Test cricketer didn’t respond well to the level of sledging directed his way on Saturday – he ‘removed himself’ from the situation
Candice Warner (right) has been a rock for her husband after he was handed a 12-month ban from first class cricket following the ball tampering scandal in March over in South Africa