Can someone explain why David Warner hasn’t been stood down as vice-captain of the Australian cricket side?

Ah, of course. He’s one of our best players, just playing the game on the edge. He’s a nuggety little patriot who never takes a backwards step.

Get real, Cricket Australia.

Warner – and by association his captain and team – is deeply out of touch with what constitutes gamesmanship, and is ignoring the seriousness of a situation that could have ended up with a South African player in hospital and Warner facing assault charges.

If you haven’t seen it yet, Warner found himself mired in controversy when CCTV footage showed him having to be restrained by teammates at Durban’s Kingsmead Stadium on the fourth day of the first Test.

It saw former Test opening batsman Simon Katich calling for player bans. Former Test vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said the incident “wasn’t a good look”, adding: “Whatever the case, going personal is rubbish from anyone. Get on with the cricket.”

Warner leaves the field with Steve Smith ahead of his brouhaha. Photo: Getty

Being one of the better players in the side gives you no special rights on or off the field. Warner’s tirade (screamed directly) at Aiden Markram after the run-out of AB De Villiers showed how unhinged he is.

So, South Africa’s Quinton de Kock had a crack at him about his wife’s past. Look in the mirror, Dave.

When it comes to the ignoble art of sledging (or what Steve Waugh famously coined ‘mental disintegration’), you tend to reap what you sow.

The claims are that de Kock’s personal slur to Warner came after a series of personal attacks the Australian opener made against him while he was batting to save the game in the second innings of the first Test.

The Proteas are privately alleging Warner referenced de Kock’s sister and mother in some of the verbals, according to news.com.au.

Warner faces a possible suspension from the second Test in Port Elizabeth after he and de Kock were charged by the ICC with “conduct that brings the game into disrepute” on Wednesday morning.

Warner’s neanderthal justification no doubt is that he was defending his wife’s reputation – and making himself feel like a real bloke for doing it.

All he did was make people tap Candice Falzon into Google and refresh their memories about what might have upset Warner so much.

David and Candice Warner with Indi (left) and Ivy at the SCG earlier this year. Photo: Getty

He didn’t look manly or chivalrous. He looked boorish and uncontrolled. Imagine his small daughters watching the footage and asking why daddy was fighting.

It’s how a petulant child would behave, not a well-adjusted adult, especially in an age where sporting clubs are desperately trying to prove their reputation as bastions of misogyny is unfounded.

The decline of standards in our national team coincided directly with Waugh becoming captain. A side full of once-in-a-generation players quickly gained a reputation for being complete bullies – with the exception of Gilchrist.

We, the old fuddy duddies who still hang on to the belief that sport – especially the grand old game of cricket – is not war, have had enough.

This is the game that we want our sons and daughters to play. The game that stands apart because of the quaint traditions and sense of fair play that has always been associated with it.

If Cricket Australia had any backbone, or cared how much damage Warner’s actions are doing to the reputation of the sporting side we Australians are supposed to be proud of, he would be stood down immediately and sent home from South Africa.

But that won’t happen. He might lose half his match fee and receive a formal warning. And it’ll happen again, in the heat of battle, in a bar, or even in a carpark.

His behaviour is a national disgrace.