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Aaron Finch's unforeseen decision to retire from ODI cricket surprised cricket fans and it has given the country's cricket board - Cricket Australia - a little headache. With Finch walking away, the captaincy post has been vacated and Cricket Australia is yet to announce the new skipper for their 50-over team.
Swashbuckling opening batter and one of the most experienced members of the Australian setup, David Warner is set to have discussions with the board to end his lifetime leadership ban in the coming weeks so that he can be one of the options to replace Finch.
Finch retired from ODI cricket on September 11 (Sunday) after a poor run of form with just over 12 months left for the 50-over World Cup in India next year.
While Test skipper Pat Cummins is the front-runner to replace Finch, Warner may also be in the reckoning, especially as several former and current players have called for the southpaw's life ban to end.
"I have spoken to Nick Hockley, we're going to try and have a catch up," Warner was quoted as saying by 'foxsports.com.au'.
"It's very difficult at the moment … but I'm sure in the next couple of weeks we might be able to. But there’s no rush for anything."
Cricket Australia imposed a lifelong leadership ban as a punishment on David Warner after the 2018 ball-tampering saga in South Australia. Along with Warner, former captain Steve Smith was stripped of captaincy and banned from leading the country for two years while Cameron Bancroft was handed a nine-month suspension.
Warner didn't mince his words when he was asked about what it would mean to lead Australia. "I haven't had any conversations at all. But look, I think at the end of the day, any opportunity to captain would be a privilege," Warner said.
"But, from my end, there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge, to have those conversations with Cricket Australia and my main focus is just actually playing cricket," he added. The 35-year-old feels the ban was not just punishment for the ball-tampering incident.
"Unfortunately a lot of the events before 2018 were with the board. The MOU stuff and all that. There was a lot of stuff that was… things got over and above in terms of more than the Cape Town stuff. There was more to it.
"I think that's where my decision, the penalty that was handed down was more of stuff that was happening before that."
Warner, Smith and batter Cameron Bancroft were banned from playing domestic or international cricket as punishment for their roles in the infamous ball-tampering scandal.
Warner and Smith had been banned for one year, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months.
Asked about what conversation he will have with the board, Warner said, "I think at the end of the day it's about what questions do they want to ask me. That's where the conversation starts and then we can lead from there. At the end of the day, it's almost a completely new ball game from when 2018 happened. I would be interested to see and hear what their thoughts are and what not. And then we can probably go from there."
However, Warner feels Cummins will be offered the job first.
"Obviously, Pat has the Test captaincy and he will be offered the job if he wants to take it, and rightfully so. For me, I know everyone is talking about it and I'm being endorsed by a few people but it's something for me, it's just about making sure Cricket Australia, if they are going to have those conversations with me that they do have those conversations," he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
