Adelaide Lang and Will Nicholas
One of the country’s greatest batters was both foolish and reckless when he drove after sharing a few glasses of wine with friends on Easter Sunday, his lawyer says.
David Warner returned a positive result for alcohol at a roadside test in Sydney’s east on April 5, police said.
When he was taken to Maroubra Police Station for a secondary test, the 39-year-old allegedly blew 0.104 – more than double the legal blood alcohol limit.
The former Australian Test opener and current Sydney Thunder Big Bash League captain was charged with mid-range drink-driving.
He was not required to appear in Waverley Local Court on Thursday when his matter was first mentioned and quickly adjourned.
Warner has not yet entered a plea but his lawyer Bobby Hill foreshadowed a guilty plea at a later date when speaking outside court.
“He knows what he did was wrong,” he said.
“He accepts that was a reckless decision, a foolish decision to get in his car instead of taking an Uber.”
The Fox Cricket commentator had enjoyed three glasses of wine at a friend’s apartment before making that decision, Hill said.
“It’s not a crime to have a glass of wine on the day of the Lord’s resurrection. In fact, some would consider that completely appropriate,” he told reporters.
“His crime is, as I said, choosing a foolish plan A instead of a plan B.”
Hill said Warner’s last drink had been 11 minutes before he was pulled over by police, who are accused of taking 52 minutes to administer the second breathalyser.
The cricket star is remorseful, which is why he will ask for leniency but expect to be punished as any other NSW citizen would be, Hill explained.
“This case before the court is a reminder to everyone in the public about the dangers of self-assessments,” he said.
‘It’s not a crime to have a glass of wine on the day of the Lord’s resurrection. In fact, some would consider that completely appropriate … His crime is, as I said, choosing a foolish plan A instead of a plan B.’
Bobby Hill, David Warner’s lawyer
“I know David is looking forward to putting this matter behind him and focusing his efforts on recontributing to those people in the community.”
The charge has cast doubt on his Thunder captaincy.
“The allegations are, of course, concerning and we take them very seriously,” Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon said after Warner’s arrest.
“At Cricket NSW we are strong advocates for safe driving, not drink-driving.”
Warner was arrested while he was on an Easter trip home from the subcontinent, where he captained the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League.
He returned to Pakistan to resume the T20 tournament after being charged, where he averaged an impressive 51.2 with the bat.
Warner was a swashbuckling opening batsman and aggressive run-scorer for the national side until his retirement from Test cricket in 2024.
He scored 8786 runs at an average of more than 44 across his 112 Tests, with a career-high score of 335 not out against Pakistan.
But Warner created headlines for the wrong reasons when he was one of three Australian players suspended after a 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa that shook the cricketing world.
A Cricket Australia investigation found Warner, who was vice captain at the time, masterminded a plan to alter the condition of the match ball with sandpaper, and enlisted rookie batsman Cameron Bancroft to carry it out.
Warner was banned from international and domestic cricket for 12 months and made permanently ineligible for team leadership positions.
