David Warner this morning met with Cricket New South Wales Chief Executive Andrew Jones to discuss the weekend incident in relation to David’s involvement in Grade cricket.

The purpose of the meeting was threefold:

1. To understand the facts from David’s perspective
2. To communicate the issues from CNSW’s perspective
3. To decide next steps

The key themes of the meeting were:

1. Cricket NSW reinforced its belief that David has the ability to be a top-class international player and that this includes meeting public expectations on and off the field. Cricket NSW is committed to helping David achieve his potential but David also needs to do his bit.
2. David made it clear he is aware that he needs to focus on scoring runs and keep distractions to a minimum, and outlined steps he has taken to assist him in this process, including additional fitness training and specialist batting sessions.
3. In this context, David stated his belief that his best preparation for the Ryobi Cup match against Victoria yesterday was to undergo specialist fitness and batting sessions on Saturday, which he did.
4. Notwithstanding David’s belief, Cricket NSW reinforced that its expectation, as well as players’ contractual obligation, remains that individuals play Grade cricket when fitness and State commitments permit.
5. Noting that David has demonstrated commitment to Grade cricket in the past, Cricket NSW CEO Andrew Jones decided on the following actions:

• A one-match sentence, suspended for the 2013-14 NSW Blues cricket season (meaning that if there is a further breach David would miss the following Ryobi Cup or Bupa Sheffield Shield match)
• David must play the next two Saturdays of Grade cricket for the Randwick-Petersham Cricket Club, and the third Saturday if Ryobi Cup commitments permit
• David will undertake two visits to other Grade Cricket clubs to promote the Transport for NSW Plan B message

David Warner commented: “I believed I was doing the right thing by focusing on my training and batting, but in hindsight I should have played. I remain determined to score runs for NSW and Australia and am also looking forward to taking the field for Randy-Petes this round. ”
Chief Executive Andrew Jones commented: “This has been an unfortunate episode. Like most cricket fans, I and all at Cricket NSW would like nothing more than to see David Warner achieve his potential on and off the field. However, in order to do this David needs to ensure that he is doing the right things and working closely with the organisation in all areas. We believe the suspended sentence demonstrates our good faith and gives David the opportunity to prove his commitment to NSW’s fans and stakeholders, including the Grade clubs. We are hopeful that this is the last incident of this nature so that David and Cricket NSW can focus solely on cricket for the remainder of the season.”