Australian opener, David Warner, who faced a lifetime ban from a leadership role due to his involvement in a ball tampering incident years ago, may be able to overturn it as Cricket Australia voted on Monday to alter its code of conduct. In a statement, Cricket Australia said players or officials subject to lifetime bans would now be able to have those sanctions reviewed if they demonstrated remorse and evidence of good behaviour. Warner was banned from ever holding a leadership position for his role in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. The new systems announced Monday might allow him to almost immediately apply to a panel of three code of conduct commissioners to review his ban. Read: Players who excelled in the T20 World Cup 2022 In an amendment, the code of conduct now "acknowledges that players and player support personnel are capable of genuine reform or rehabilitation and is intended to provide the player or player support personnel with an opportunity to resume their previously held positions or responsibilities in specific circumstances." The change might allow Warner to lead Australia if, as expected, current Twenty20 captain Aaron Finch steps down in the near future. The Sydney Thunder also appear to be considering Warner for a leadership role when he plays for the side in the Big Bash League in January. "Under the changes, players and support staff can now apply to have long-term sanctions modified," Cricket Australia said in a statement. "Any applications will be considered by a three-person review panel, comprising independent code of conduct commissioners which must be satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist to justify modifying a sanction." Read: T20 World Cup: Australia beat Afghanistan by 4 runs "These circumstances and considerations will include whether the subject of the sanction has demonstrated genuine remorse; the subject’s conduct and behaviour since the imposition of the sanction; whether rehabilitation programs have been completed undertaken (if applicable) and the length of time that has passed since the sanction was imposed and whether sufficient time has passed to allow for reform or rehabilitation." Warner criticised the length of time Cricket Australia had taken to institute an appeal process, saying a life ban had been "a bit harsh." He said he would take up the opportunity to put his case. "It's good to get in a position where it gives me an opportunity to ring up the integrity unit to have a word to them and put forward my case," Warner said. "It's been drawn out and it's traumatic for me and my family and everyone else who was involved in it. We don't need to relive what happened."

Tim Paine took over the Australian test cricket team captaincy following one of the country's biggest and and most embarrassing international scandals. He's lost it following a more personal indiscretion. Paine quit as test captain on Friday after being investigated by Cricket Australia for sending explicit text messages to a female co-worker four years ago. Veteran wicketkeeper Paine was named in a News Corp. report as being at the center of the sexting scandal. The 36-year-old Paine appeared before media on Friday in Adelaide to announce he was resigning the captaincy but wanted to remain a member of the test squad. Also read: Australian court rules media liable for Facebook comments The announcement comes less than three weeks before the Dec. 8 start in Brisbane of the five-test Ashes series against England. Paine, who underwent surgery in September to repair a pinched nerve in his neck and isn't a certainty to be a starter in the Ashes series, became test captain in March 2018 after Steve Smith lost the role following the sandpaper ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. During the third test match against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town, Cameron Bancroft was caught by television cameras trying to rough up one side of the ball with sandpaper. Smith and vice-captain David Warner were found to be involved and all three received sanctions from Cricket Australia, and when Smith was dumped as captain, Paine took charge. Until Friday. “It’s an incredibly difficult decision, but the right one for me, my family, and cricket,” Paine said. “As a background on my decision, nearly four years ago, I was involved in a text exchange with a then-colleague. “At the time, the exchange was the subject of a thorough CA integrity unit investigation, throughout which I fully participated in and openly participated in. Although exonerated, I deeply regretted this incident at the time, and still do today." Also read: Australian baseball team withdraws from Olympic qualifying The messages date to 2017, months before Paine was recalled to the test team after a seven-year absence. Cricket Australia's statement said its board had accepted Paine's resignation and will look to appoint a new test captain. “Tim felt it was in the best interests of his family and Australian cricket to take this decision to step down as captain," CA board chairman Richard Freudenstein said. “While the board acknowledges an investigation cleared Tim of any breach of the code of conduct regarding this matter some years ago, we respect his decision. “CA does not condone this type of language or behavior. Despite the mistake he made, Tim has been an exceptional leader since his appointment and the board thanks him for his distinguished service." Cricket Australia said Paine "will continue to be available for selection in the test team through the Ashes summer.” He was among the 15 players named earlier this week for the Ashes. Paine said at the media conference that he thought the matter had been dealt with several years ago. “I spoke to my wife and family at the time and am enormously grateful for their forgiveness and support," Paine said. "We thought this incident was behind us and that I could focus entirely on the team, as I have done for the last three or four years. “However, I recently became aware that this private text exchange was going to become public.” Paine said he didn't want the scandal to become “an unwelcome disruption to the team ahead of what is a huge Ashes series." The series is one of the most anticipated in world cricket. After the opening test match in Brisbane, further matches are scheduled for Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Australia holds the Ashes. “I have loved my role as captain of the Australian cricket team," Paine said Friday. “I’m grateful for the support of my teammates and proud of what we’ve been able to achieve together. To them, I ask for their understanding and forgiveness. To Australian cricket fans I’m deeply sorry that my past behavior has impacted our game on the eve of the Ashes. “ Cricket Tasmania released a statement Friday saying the allegations against Paine were only raised when the female employee was charged with theft. Chairman Andrew Gaggin said no complaint was made until mid-2018 following the message exchanges in November 2017. “As soon as Cricket Tasmania was made aware, it undertook an investigation that determined the interaction was consensual, private, occurred on the one occasion only, was between mature adults and was not repeated,” Gaggin said. Paine has played 35 tests for Australia, taking 150 catches behind the stumps. He has scored 1,534 runs at an average of 32.63 with a high score of 92 and nine half-centuries. Pat Cummins is now favored to become the first fast bowler to assume the full-time captaincy of the test team, although once sandpaper-tainted Steve Smith's name has also been mentioned.

To play a five-match T20Is series against the Tigers, the Australia cricket team arrived in Dhaka on Thursday afternoon. They will now have to maintain a strict in-room quarantine in a hotel in the capital for three days.  Australian cricket team took a chartered flight from Barbados to reach Dhaka. They arrived in Dhaka at 4 p.m. on Thursday. This is Australia's first tour to Bangladesh in four years. Read:Triumphant Tigers are back! The five-match T20Is series will begin on August 3, with the other matches will be played on August 4, 6, 7 and 9. All the matches will be hosted at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.  The Australian team was not bound to maintain traditional immigration at the airport in Dhaka. They travelled directly to the team hotel from the airport. They will start their pre-series preparation after maintaining this quarantine period. 

The Australian cricket team is scheduled to tour Bangladesh in August. Ahead of the T20I World Cup that will be played in the UAE this year, they will play a five-match series against the hosts in early August.  The tentative dates set for the series are August 2-8. Akram Khan, the chair of cricket operations of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), on Wednesday said the BCB is trying to fulfil every demand of Cricket Australia to ensure a safe tour. “We have been working to ensure all that Cricket Australia demanded,” Akram told the media. “If everything goes well, we hope they will continue with the tour. We have already completed 90-95 percent preparation to host them.” Also read: Bangladesh to host Australia for five T20Is in August The series was originally scheduled for three T20Is, but the BCB requested Australia to play five matches instead of three, and Australia agreed to that. As part of the safety requirements, Cricket Australia asked BCB to manage free emigration for the Australian team members. They have also asked to arrange a hotel free from other guests, and a single venue for all the matches. Akram Khan said the board is doing its best to fulfil all these demands. Also read: BAN vs ZIM 2021: Significant Test and T20I Records Between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe He also played down allegations flying around that the Bangladesh A team is suffering from lack of activity or neglect. He said: “It’s a misconception that we are not doing anything with the Bangladesh A team. All the cricketing activities were on hold due to the Covid-19 situation. We had arranged a series in October 2021. We couldn’t continue it due to the outbreak of Covid-19.” Akram also said that Bangladesh A team will tour Sri Lanka in November this year, and it might be for a series of longer version cricket. However, he didn’t disclose more about this series.

Cricket Australia confirmed on Wednesday that India players were subjected to racial abuse from the crowd during the third test in Sydney and said investigations would continue after six men who were ejected during the match were subsequently cleared.

Will Pucovski set the tone with a flourishing 62 on debut and Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith took over as Australia’s batting lineup finally clicked against India, reaching 166-2 on a rain-interrupted opening day of the third Test.

India completed a stunning form reversal on Tuesday by claiming a memorable eight-wicket win over Australia on the fourth day of the second cricket test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Cricket Australia will consider swapping the third and fourth Tests of Australia’s cricket Test series against India due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney where the third Test is due to be played.

The Cricket Australia (CA) denied to include Shakib Al Hasan in the Big Bash League (BBL) after a club moved to rope him in.

Australian sports fans didn't really need a reminder about the coronavirus, but they got one anyway Friday when a number of major events Down Under were affected by concerns over the pandemic. And more are likely to follow.