Aussies' ball-tampering ringleader personifies crisis engulfing cricket

JOHANNESBURG - It was the new-look David Warner who arrived in South Africa.

But it was the Warner of old who was dispatched on Wednesday, ostracized again, and in danger of no redemption this time.

Nearly a month ago, the Australia batsman who is now confirmed as the ringleader in cricket's ball-tampering scandal and banned by his country for a year, attended a news conference with a spring in his step on the first day of what's ultimately turned out to be a noxious series for him, and for the Australian team.

And for cricket.

Then, Warner appeared to be in good health, physically and mentally. Short, fit and quick, he was also a bundle of energy. Winning cricket games and scoring runs were still so very important to him, but seemingly not to the exclusion of everything else.

Asked to explain how he got out to South Africa fast bowler Vernon Philander, Warner praised his opponent's skill and said: "That's the game. It is what it is. The sun comes up tomorrow and we keep getting on."

Warner signed off the conference with a "too easy," the Aussie phrase that roughly means "not a problem at all", after journalists had thanked him for his time.

Three days later, during the same match, Warner was being restrained by teammates in an ugly confrontation with South Africa player Quinton de Kock on a staircase near the locker rooms. Memories of a 2013 incident when he punched an England player in a bar, and was banished from the Australia team, came seeping back.