David Warner – Off the hook too easily?

“How can you have a clash of cultures when you’re playing against a country with no culture?” former English captain and commentator David Gower roared last week. While these pre-Ashes formalities aren’t always in the spirit of the game, Australia’s larger-than-life opening batsman David Warner certainly did not help his nation’s cause by throwing a punch at young Joe Root in a bar-room altercation earlier this week. Warner soon faced the music; he was suspended for a period of three weeks – until the first Test of the Ashes – and a fine also ensured that he was poorer by 11,500 A$.

Did Warner deserve a sterner punishment?

For the second time in less than a month, Warner pleaded guilty to breaching rule six of the Code of Behaviour, which states “Without limiting any other rule, players and officials must not at any time engage in behaviour unbecoming to a representative player or official that could (a) bring them or the game into disrepute or (b) be harmful to the interests of cricket.” Earlier, Warner was involved in an ugly spat on Twitter with two senior Australian journalists, following which he apologised, saying, “In hindsight, clearly I let my frustrations get the better of me”. However, the longer you think about it, the hollower his apology rings.

Besides sheer talent, unimaginable levels of discipline and a colossal amount of dedication are mandatory for success. And the Australian team has witnessed the highest of highs; the greatest of triumphs. For a better part of twenty years, they ruled world cricket; they were the team to beat, the team that instilled fear into every opposition. Then things started to go terribly wrong. Their dramatic slide coincided with an ominous beginning – the beginning of a seemingly bottomless list of disciplinary issues regarding their hitherto professional sportsmen.

Cricket Australia has always been a strict body. On their tour to India, Watson, Johnson, Pattinson and Khawaja were issued a one Test suspension for not doing their homework. Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Dan Christian and Chris Lynn have all been on the receiving end of disciplinary actions over the last year. In the 2012 edition of the IPL, Luke Pomersbach was detained by the police for alleged assault on a woman. Clearly, something is very, very wrong. Cricket Australia’s penalties are not proving to be enough of a deterrent for their players to adhere to basic civility.

This week, an opportunity was presented to CA on a platter; by punishing Warner severely enough, they could have set a strong example. But by suspending him only until and not including the first Ashes Test, they have almost directly indicated that Warner is indispensable to the Aussie outfit; that he can take his place in the team for granted. But is Warner really that good? In 19 Tests, the pocket-dynamo has scored 1263 runs at an average of 39.46. Those are good numbers, but not outstanding. He is a pale shadow of his predecessor Matthew Hayden. Statistics never lie – Warner clearly does not conform to the high standards Australia sets for its players.

For a man dogged by inconsistency and poor form, and who is one of five openers in the squad, you would think that CA could have taken a stronger stance on the issue. After all, the Ashes squad does consist of Shane Watson, Ed Cowan, Chris Rogers, and Phil Hughes – all of whom are qualified, solid opening batsmen. Rogers and Cowan, in particular, are outstanding in English conditions as their county records prove. By not suspending Warner for a longer period, CA has meekly established the fact that they have little to no faith in the quartet of Aussie openers, and do not feel responsible about the non-cricketing traits of their players.

Over the last couple of decades, Cricket Australia has been the benchmark. On the field, every Australian squad has been a gang of ruthless professionals. Off the field, the Australian players have mostly been well-behaved barring a few rare occasions of indiscipline. CA has always handled the players admirably; they have generally bred a culture of what is right and what is wrong.

But this time though, David Gower might be right. David Warner assaulted a man – it is a grave offence. George Bailey, the Aussie skipper, waved off the issue as “minor”, exposing the disgraceful attitude that currently plagues Australian cricket. Cricket Australia conveniently chose to look away. Sadly, CA’s handling of this matter seems to be a mere eyewash rather than a thorough and complete attempt to clean up the system.