Cricket Australia's Findings Prove David Warner Was 'Mastermind' Of Ball-Tampering Scandal

Cricket Australia (CA) has made damning revelations about the ball-tampering scandal that has left the entire cricketing world shaken. The Australian cricket board, in their key findings, made it amply clear that former vice-captain David Warner was the mastermind behind hatching the entire plot. While captain Steve Smith was found to have knowledge of the plan and not preventing it, encouraging Cameron Bancroft to conceal it and "seeking to mislead match officials", Warner was held responsible for the "development of a plan to attempt to artificially alter the condition of the ball".

Not just that, Warner was also found to have instructed and advised "a junior player" to alter the ball's condition.

The investigation found Warner not only conceived the idea to rough up the ball with sandpaper but he also enlisted Bancroft to carry out the task and demonstrated how to do it.

For that very reason, CA came down the hardest on the left-hander.

Warner and Smith were both banned for a year from all international and domestic cricket while Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban for executing the plan to tamper with the ball.

But more importantly while both Smith and Warner were removed from their posts as captain and vice-captain of the Australian cricket team, the former at least will be considered for captaincy a year after completing his ban.

However, the CA said Warner will never be considered for leading the side.

Meanwhile, Warner has also come across as the most unrepentant among the three cricketers. While Smith and Bancroft have fronted the media multiple times and taken responsibility for the ball-tampering saga, Warner has stayed largely in the shadows.

Cricket Australia's key findings:

Steve Smith was charged with a breach of Article 2.3.5 of the CA Code of Conduct based on:

(a) knowledge of a potential plan to attempt to artificially alter the condition of the ball;

(b) failure to take steps to seek to prevent the development and implementation of that plan;

(c) directing that evidence of attempted tampering be concealed on the field of play;

(d) seeking to mislead Match Officials and others regarding Bancroft's attempts to artificially alter the condition of the ball; and

(e) misleading public comments regarding the nature, extent and participants of the plan

David Warner was charged with a breach of Article 2.3.5 of the CA Code of Conduct based on:

(a) development of a plan to attempt to artificially alter the condition of the ball;

(b) instruction to a junior player to carry out a plan to take steps to attempt to artificially alter the condition of the ball using sandpaper;

(c) provision of advice to a junior player regarding how a ball could be artificially altered including demonstrating how it could be done;

(d) failure to take steps to seek to prevent the development and/or implementation of the plan;

(e) failure to report his knowledge of the plan at any time prior to or during the match;

(f) misleading Match Officials through the concealment of his knowledge of and involvement in the plan; and

(g) failure to voluntarily report his knowledge of the plan after the match

Cameron Bancroft was charged with a breach of Article 2.3.5 of the CA Code of Conduct based on:

(a) knowledge of the existence of, and being party to, the plan to attempt to artificially alter the condition of the ball using sandpaper;

(b) carrying out instructions to attempt to artificially alter the condition of the ball;

(c) seeking to conceal evidence of his attempts to artificially alter the condition of the ball;

(d) seeking to mislead Match Officials and others regarding his attempts to artificially alter the condition of the ball; and

(e) misleading public comments regarding the nature, extent, implementation and participants of the plan