Former Australian captains react to David Warner's 2018 scandal comments

Former Australian player Michael Clarke has voiced his thoughts on David Warner's recent comments regarding the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. 

In a recent interview at a local sports platform, Clarke praised Warner for his stellar performances but questioned the timing of his remarks.

"I understand where Davey is coming from; I think parts of what he said are fair enough; I don't think he's got the timing right," Clarke said. 

"I don't think it's fair to say he's the only one whose copped it. I think Cameron Bancroft's certainly copped it, and there's still about is the reasoning he's not in the Australian Test team because of what happened years ago. Steve Smith obviously copped it and lost the Australian captaincy," he added.

"Davey has certainly copped it, there's no doubt about it. I just think the timing is probably not right. Think it probably would have been suited for the end of a World Cup rather in the middle of a World Cup because there's probably other players in the team who would prefer this not to be spoken about right now. But there's parts of what he said that are correct."

"I think he will definitely be remembered for how great a cricketer he has been, and he's been an amazing entertainer," Clarke said. "Unfortunately for him, yes, it [ball tampering] probably will be spoken about…in 10, 20 years' time. But I think how good a cricketer he is will be spoken about as well,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, another former Australian captain, Aaron Finch, echoed Clarke's sentiments. 

"Like Pup [Clarke] said, purely for the timing…I thought that was a little bit odd," Finch said.

Previously, Australian opener David Warner stated that the notorious sandpaper ball-tampering incident has become intertwined with his life, ensuring that discussions about him will forever include references to the saga.

"Coming back since 2018 I've probably... been the only one that's ever copped a lot of flak," Warner said. 

"Whether it's people who don't like the Australian cricket team or don't like me, I've always been that person who has copped it."

"It's fine if they want to do that, but I always feel like I've taken a lot of pressure off a lot of guys as well and I think understandably I've been that person to be able to absorb that. But one can only absorb [so much]. For me, it's great to go out knowing I'm not going to cop it anymore," he said.