David Warner reveals why he has no regrets about getting caught cheating in Sandpapergate scandal

Under-fire star David Warner has insisted he wouldn’t change anything about his role in Sandpapergate despite the cheating scandal bringing Australian cricket to its knees and resulting in him being rubbed out of the game in an unprecedented ban. 

When Cameron Bancroft was busted obeying Warner’s instructions to scuff the ball with sandpaper in Cape Town in South Africa in 2018, it sent shockwaves through the sport.

Warner and then-captain Steve Smith were suspended for one year, and Bancroft was banned for nine months. In addition, Warner was stripped of his leadership role for life, and Smith for two years.

The star opening batter (pictured with wife Candice) said he doesn’t deserve to be judged on the ball-tampering episode

But despite the damage done to the game’s image and the stars’ careers, the 36-year-old said he wouldn’t change a thing – and believes he doesn’t deserve to be taken to task over it.

‘I don’t regret anything. You make your own path, right? No one is perfect and you should never judge anyone until you’re perfect,’ he told News Corp.

‘Whatever happened to me in my past, it’s made me the individual I am and has probably got me to to where I am … If I did go back and make changes I wouldn’t be the person who I am.’

Warner even explained that the one-year ban – which would have cost him a small fortune – was good for him.

‘There were dark times, but I enjoyed the family time. I enjoyed going back to grade cricket and playing with my mates and getting an appreciation for all the volunteers who dedicate their time to cricket because they love the sport.’

The 36-year-old (pictured with wife Candice and their daughters) said the year-long ban was good for him because he got back to his cricketing roots

The scandal took a heavy toll on Warner and his wife Candice, with the star opener weeping during a press conference after his ban was handed down.

He lashed out at Cricket Australia for failing to support him when the backlash was at its peak and revealed the chance meeting at an airport that left him in tears after the team left South Africa.

‘We went to Singapore to get away and there was this huge mass on, and this Australian priest came up to me and gave me his card,’ Warner said.

‘It gave me a sense of, ‘you’re still loved’. And it really … it brought a tear to my eye.’

A form slump and ongoing battle with Cricket Australia over ending his captaincy ban have seen Warner make headlines for all the wrong reasons this summer

On Wednesday he threw a scare into the Australian team just days before the Boxing Day Test when he posted photos of himself on a family holiday to Bali (pictured) – only for the episode to be revealed as a joke

Warner has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately, thanks to a form slump, his battle with Cricket Australia over having his leadership ban lifted – and a bizarre series of Instagram posts.

On Tuesday he posted shots of himself heading to Bali for a break with his family – fooling many into thinking he’d left the Aussie team in the lurch just days before the Boxing Day Test.

Team media manager Cole Hitchcock said ‘he’s not in Bali’ when the media raised the story with him, but even he wasn’t 100 per cent sure, adding he would ‘check it out but I severely doubt it’.

It was later confirmed Warner was in Sydney and the posts were a ‘joke’ directed at a friend of his, with the photos from Monday’s Instagram story dated 19 December 2022 – despite the fact they were taken more than a year ago.