DAVID Warner, Australia’s big-hitting success story of the first T20 international against South Africa, comes with excellent credentials: he was once suspended by a cricket academy.

Another errant pupil expelled from Australia’s Centre of Excellence was a tubby leg-spinner named Shane Warne. Yesterday, it emerged that Warner, then 20, was sent home in disgrace in 2007 because his room at the centre looked like a pigsty, with bits of food scattered everywhere and marks on the floors and walls. In a report in the News Ltd newspapers, Warner admitted the suspension was the kick in the pants he needed to become Australia’s new batting sensation. “It was definitely the turning point. I have since learned from it and worked my butt off to get where I am,” he said. “It’s just one of those things. You have to pay the consequences, and I’ve bounced back a better person. “It was probably that moment that I realised I had to turn things around if I wanted a future in the game.” New South Wales cricket boss Dave Gilbert said Warner had indeed turned things around. “The thing that upset me the most was that by being kicked out of the academy he would have to live with that for the rest of his life. “But from that moment, to his credit, I couldn’t fault him and I think the message has got through.”

Sports Staff

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