Kate Hawkesby: David Warner's wife Candice needs to stop talking

I can't understand why David Warner's wife Candice has weighed into the cricket scandal engulfing her husband.

It seems odd, that when you're asking people to draw a line under the saga, you've apologised, you've accepted your fate, that your wife would then start speaking up with a new spin on proceedings. Why? To what end?

I can understand that she's devastated and that she in her own way feels in some way responsible - but surely that dialogue is for a counsellor's office and not the public domain?

She also raised new information, which though in her mind pertinent to the incident, really has no bearing on it, or Cricket Australia's response, or indeed the fact her husband cheated.

No amount of sledging justifies cheating.

I didn't know about her and Sonny Bill Williams, nor to be honest do I care. But her upset stems from South African spectators wearing SBW masks to the second test, apparently in reference to a sexual encounter she had with him 10 years ago, and in an attempt to sledge her husband over it.

Sledging is not new. The Australians themselves are pros at it, so I don't think the 'sledging is so mean' argument holds much sway, or garners much sympathy.

I also don't know why this would be a surprise to her, she lives in the cricket world, she must know it's not all Pimm's on the sideline. I'm also not sure why you would subject your kids to it. Sure, travelling as a family with your partner's sport is ideal, but if you think you're going to be a target, or sledging material, don't go. And when you see them turning up in SBW masks - leave.

It was one thing to have Warner himself break down in a tearful apology, it's quite another to have her telling us how upset she is too.

At the end of the day he is where he is because he broke the rules, he showed a stunning lack of judgment and morality and sportsmanship. People aren't going to just pop that to one side because his wife's come forward to say she feels bad and feels responsible.

She's also said she's an emotional wreck and it's killing her - given that, counselling is probably the only place for her to be working that through, not the media.

Warner, for his part, though not directly attributing the abuse of his wife as a contributing factor in the ball tampering, has now lawyered up.

He claims he wasn't properly supported in South Africa, a claim Cricket Australia dismisses. But as is so often the case in ugly spats, both Warner and Steve Smith have hired high-powered legal teams. They're looking to challenge whether the sanctions they've received are fair. Apparently they feel the severity of the penalties are too excessive.

Given this, and given the depth of public interest in it, although sympathetic with Warner's wife's plight, it's probably best for her sake, that she steps off the pitch now.