Australia’s David Warner dropped for NZ game in CT after alleged fight with England player

BIRMINGHAM, England – Australia dropped batsman David Warner from its Champions Trophy match against New Zealand on Wednesday for attacking England player Joe Root in a bar, a sign of increasing tensions between the fierce rivals ahead of the Ashes series.

While Cricket Australia maintained it was an alleged “physical altercation,” England officials said Warner “initiated an unprovoked physical attack” in a Birmingham bar following England’s victory over Australia in their opening Champions Trophy match on Saturday.

“Warner has admitted behaving inappropriately and has since apologized to the player involved who has accepted the apology,” the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement.

The ECB said it concluded Root “was in no way responsible for nor retaliated to the attack.”

“Joe seems fine, there are no physical injuries,” England captain Alastair Cook said at The Oval, speaking ahead of the team’s match against Sri Lanka on Thursday. “It’s unfortunate this has happened and he wants to put it behind him.

“We are clearly disappointed that the incident has happened,” added Cook, who wasn’t present on the night out, “but after investigating it from our side, we don’t believe we have done anything wrong.”

Warner — a left-handed opener and one of the cornerstones of Australia’s batting department — faced a hearing on a date yet to be determined and could be sent home from the tour of England. Cricket Australia has reported him for engaging in “behaviour unbecoming to a representative player or official that could (a) bring them or the game into disrepute or (b) be harmful to the interests of cricket.”

The temperamental Warner found himself in trouble last month when he delivered an expletive-laden Twitter rant against two senior cricket journalists.

He was fined $5,750 for breaching CA’s code of conduct and apologized, despite saying he disagreed with having his photo printed alongside a story written by one of the journalists.

The potential absence of Warner, recently touted as a potential future captain, would further weaken the team’s batting lineup ahead of the eagerly anticipated Ashes. Captain Michael Clarke missed both of Australia’s matches in the Champions Trophy because of a lower back injury that could hinder him in the upcoming test series.

Warner has been a regular in Australia’s test team — averaging nearly 40 — since making his debut in December 2011 but has struggled for form since arriving in England, failing to score a run in both of the warm-up games for the Champions Trophy and then 9 in the 48-run loss to England at the weekend.

During that match, Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade faced up to England batsman Jonathan Trott after clashing at the crease. Words were exchanged and the umpires needed to intervene.

Trott then said something to Wade as the Australian returned to the pavilion after being dismissed in the tourists’ reply.

The first test starts at Trent Bridge on July 10, with the teams playing four more tests in England and then meeting in a return Ashes series in Australia. In all, the old foes meet 26 times across all formats over the next nine months.