Sutherland says 'despicable act' Warner 'lucky' to be in first Ashes Test

Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland has slammed Australian opener David Warner's punching England's Joe Root as 'despicable', saying that Warner should count himself lucky to be available for the first Ashes Test.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, CA fined Warner 11,500 dollars and suspended him for a month following his altercation with Root in a Birmingham bar, adding that although Warner will not play until the Ashes opener but theoretically could be picked in that game.

Stating that the opener could thank his lucky stars his punishment was not more severe, Sutherland said that Warner needed a wake-up call if he wanted to remain part of Australia's cricketing elite, adding that he supported the process behind the independent ruling.

Expressing his disappointment over the incident and Warner, Sutherland said that Warner is making some very ordinary decisions and bringing the game and his teammates down, which would not be tolerated any longer, adding that the board is not comfortable with the incident in Birmingham.

Sutherland further said that despite any explanations that people may put up, there is no place for violence in society and there is no excuse for cricketers to be finding themselves in that position.

Blaming the Australian team for the incident, as five other Oz players were also reported to be at the bar with Warner at the time of the incident, Sutherland said that although Warner has done a despicable thing, he also hold the team to account as they could have stopped the incident from happening in the first place.

Sutherland further said that those players have already been spoken too, adding that they will have to continue discussions on how they can make better decisions in the future.