Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts has praised David Warner's maturity as intrigue builds over the banned ball-tampering trio's reintegration.
David Warner fielding during the controversial third test against South Africa. Photo: Photosport
Warner has been publicly mute since speaking after a Sydney grade game in November.
That silence is expected to continue for the foreseeable future despite calls for the hard-hitting opener to clear the air after Boxing Day interviews from Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, which prompted criticism from Ricky Ponting and others.
Smith and Warner have both insisted in recent months their relationship is fine but the dynamic between the sacked skipper and his dumped deputy has obviously been affected by the cheating saga.
Both banned batsmen will soon travel to Bangladesh and take part in that nation's Twenty20 league, with Smith earning a late reprieve after franchises debated whether he is eligible to take part.
Many past and present players feel Warner has been thrown under the bus by comments from Smith and Bancroft that dredged up memories of the Newlands debacle, which unfolded some nine months ago.
"I spoke to Dave ... just prior to Christmas," Roberts told the ABC.
"Dave's to be commended on his maturity and the way he's handling the situation at the moment.
"It (the timing of Smith and Bancroft's interviews) is not ideal.
"It took a little bit of the focus off the field ... but most of those comments have been made before."
Roberts reaffirmed the scope of the original investigation focused only on Cape Town but, when pressed repeatedly whether there may have been other instances of Australia tampering, noted "there haven't been any suggestions that there was any similar incident".
CA was far from pleased that Smith and Bancroft's interviews went to air as Australia started to hunt a 2-1 Test series lead over India in Melbourne.
Roberts' counterpart at the players' union, Alistair Nicholson, admitted the timing of the tell-all interviews was "surprising" but understood why Fox Sports wanted to show them on Boxing Day.
"I don't necessarily think it left him (Warner) isolated because there wasn't essentially anything really new there," Nicholson told SEN.
"I had a quick check-in with him and he said he is OK and is just being low key."
The widespread expectation is that Smith and Warner will return for Australia after serving year-long bans, possibly as early as April, and be part of the nation's World Cup defence in England.
It was reinforced during the third Test by Australia's ODI captain Aaron Finch, who suggested "they'll be welcomed back with open arms".
"Aaron's words were very genuine. Those guys have done the time, are doing the time and doing it well," Nicholson said.
Roberts suggested Smith and Warner's form in various T20 competitions would be part of a decision regarding when they next play for Australia.
- AAP
