David Warner on Saturday slammed Cricket Australia (CA) for their lack of support during his leadership ban appeal, adding that the issue affected his mental health ahead of the first Test against South Africa.

Warner had been handed a lifetime leadership ban because of his role in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.

The 36-year-old had launched an appeal against the ban earlier this year and both Warner and CA wanted a closed-door hearing. However, the Board-appointed independent commissioners insisted on it being public, forcing Warner to withdraw his appeal earlier this month.

“Leading into the Perth Test, my mental health probably wasn’t where I needed it to be. And that was challenging at the time,” Warner said ahead of his 100th Test.

“If I had it my way we would have had it all sorted. From the CA point of view, I didn’t really have any support.

“My teammates and the staff in our team were absolutely amazing, and my family and friends — they really got me through that period,” he added.

Warner, who has recently come under fire for his Test form, was out for 0 and 3 in the Perth Test last week. He hasn’t scored a Test century since January 2020.

The opener said he was unable to understand why the process had taken so much time.

“We reached out in February. So we have no idea how it went on this far and only CA can answer that and they’ll probably give you the same thing that they always give everyone else, they don’t really give an answer,” Warner said.

Despite his struggle in the longest format, Warner backed himself to do well in the Boxing Day Test.

“Yeah, my back’s up against the wall, but it’s in my DNA to keep being competitive, come out here with a smile on my face and take on whatever opposition we’re going to face,” he said.

Warner added that he will have a conversation with the Board after the South Africa series. “I’m pumped to play another Boxing Day Test and more importantly we’ve got a series that’s on the line.”