David Warner launches sensational claims that he was unfairly targeted by Sandpapergate while others were PROTECTED: ‘I won’t do it anymore’

David Warner has admitted he will never be able to escape his role in the 2018 sandpaper scandal and will retire from international cricket at the end of the T20 World Cup happy that he is “not going to take it anymore”.

The veteran opener was given the opportunity to exit the game on his own terms during the Test summer at home and now in the Caribbean, where he will try to help Australia add the T20 World Cup to their ODI and World Test Championship titles.

Ahead of the opening Super Eight clash against Bangladesh in Antigua on Friday, Warner spoke about the toll of a year-long playing ban and lifetime leadership ban, his sanction after being discovered as one of three central figures in the use of sandpaper on a I had carried out the test in Cape Town in 2018.

He declared that he had been “the only one who had received a lot of criticism” and even suggested that he discovered throughout the entire ordeal that “certain people are protected differently.”

Warner, Australia’s leading run-scorer in T20 cricket, said he had had to “absorb” a lot of pressure for other players, but as the end approached he was glad he didn’t have to do it anymore.

‘For me it’s about moving forward. My back was always against the wall when I came back and I knew it. I took my fair share throughout my career,” Warner said.

“Coming back from (his 12-month suspension), I’ve probably been the only one who’s received a lot of criticism, whether it’s from people who don’t like the Australian cricket team or who don’t like me.

‘I’ve always been that person who has put up with it.

“Okay, okay if they want to do that, but I always feel like I’ve taken a lot of pressure off a lot of guys and I think, understandably, I’ve been that person who’s been able to absorb that.”

‘But one can only absorb (to a certain extent).

“For me, it’s great to go out knowing that I’m not going to take it anymore.”

Warner will retire as one of the all-time greats, a multiple World Cup winner who has played key roles in major Test series victories at home and abroad.

But he said the fallout from the sandpaper scandal would follow him even into retirement, hoping that “cricket’s true tragics” could appreciate his remarkable career.

“I think it will be inevitable that when people talk about me in 20 or 30 years, there will always be that. There will always be that sandpaper scandal, Warner said.

“But for me, if they are true cricket tragics and love cricket, and my closest fans, they will always see me as that cricketer.” Someone who tried to change the game. Someone who tried to follow in the footsteps of the openers before me and tried to score runs at a great rate and change Test cricket in some way. Be that person who went from Twenty20 cricket to playing Test cricket – batting at number 6 and then opening.

“For me, I hope they remember me for that, but I understand that 2018 always comes up and it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”

Australia needs to win the first two matches of the Super Eight, against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, to secure their place in the final before a third clash with India.

The top two teams from each of the two groups will qualify for the semi-finals to be held in Tarouba and Guyana on June 27 before the final in Barbados on June 29.

AUSTRALIA’S SUPER EIGHT MATCHES

v Bangladesh – 8:30am AWST June 21, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

v Afghanistan: 8:30 am AWST, June 23, Arnos Vale Ground, Arnos Vale, St. Vincent

v India: 10.30pm AWST, June 24, Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, Saint Lucia