Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft have all been hit with career-changing bans as the extent of their lies and deception during the Australian ball-tampering scandal became clear.
When Dave Warner was a youngster in Matraville, in Sydney's east, it wasn't the leafy suburb where modern private school cricketers are bred.
Yet there outside the housing commission block where he grew up, Warner learnt his craft and the uncompromising win-at-all costs that led him to the pinnacle of cricket.
Repeatedly hitting a frayed tennis ball against a brick wall, there were mannerisms of Don Bradman's famed training methods in him from a young age.
But unlike Bradman, Warner was never going to be anywhere near perfect.
A 12-month suspension isn't the first blemish of his career, but the revelation he was the 'mastermind' behind the decision to cheat has him at a cricketing crossroads.
With some questioning whether there have been other, undetected, moments when he's pushed the boundaries, the housing commission kid is up against it - again.
As a youngster with Sydney Coastal and later Eastern Suburbs Cricket clubs, trouble was something Warner was central to on a number of occasions.
Even as a teenager Australia's most notorious sledger was at the top of his game with a former junior opponent claiming Warner once called him a 'f***ing spastic'.
Trouble surrounded him as a youngster in the then working-class suburb. When still a primary school student, a man was murdered on his front lawn.
His year 12 report card from 2004 observed the following: 'Dave only wants to be the class clown... without a complete change of attitude these results will not improve'.
David Warner at an Australian cricket team recovery session. Photo / Getty Images
Soon after cementing his place in the Test team in 2011, the role of clown changed to that of enforcer.
That was a role he'd held since his junior days, with fierce sledging coming naturally to him from the very beginning.
Mark Coles, a stalwart of his junior club Sydney Coastal, said stories of the talented blonde youngster hitting the ball to all corners of the field are still told today.
'He was a very talented junior, batting left and right handed - often in the same over - and it used to drive the bowlers mad,' Mr Coles said.
'He'd play certain shots better one way than the other. He was in your face kid, cocky and confident, much of what you see today.
'No, he wasn't always easy to manage, but he was a very good cricketer and a lovable boy.'
As a kid 'all he had' was often not much. Warner would work at Woolworths packing shelves for $12-an-hour, with his parents unable to afford to pay him pocket money.
Any spare time he had was spent outside honing his batting, using a technique like Don Bradman, who famously hit a golf ball against a water tank with a stump.
Mr Coles believes the events Warner experienced as a youngster instilled the tough edge in the adult cricket star that eventually led to his downfall.
'There's a feeling of sadness around the club that it has come to this for him,' he said.
'Usman Khawaja was at the club at the same time as Dave and he was a very different character, much quieter.'
'I sent an email out to all the players a couple of days ago reminding them what it is that the club's about, what we represent and what our motto is - "Trust, respect and humility".'
An unhappy David Warner departs. Photo / Photosport
He began his studies at Matraville Public School and moved on to Randwick Boy's High School, but it was outside the classroom where Warner's abilities lay.
After rising to prominence with his form in Twenty20 cricket and for New South Wales, Warner was rewarded with a Baggy Green against New Zealand in 2011.
Warner quickly became a star, making his name attacking with the bat and chirping away from his usual fielding position at point.
His attitude earned him the nickname of 'The Bull', but The Bull is chirping no longer.
Warner distanced himself from teammates in South Africa in recent days as the ball-tampering scandal engulfed Australian cricket.
With his long history of priors and in his role as vice-captain, Warner was reportedly asked to be a fall man for his captain Steve Smith and youngster Cameron Bancroft.
But having long been the one to take the blame for his teammates, Warner this time drew a line in the sand.
Removing himself from a team WhatsApp group, he cut a lonely figure in the foyer of the team hotel and on the team bus, with only wife Candice seen by his side.
It's a far cry from the last time the Test team toured South Africa. Back then, in 2014, he was the top scorer in the series with 200 runs more than the next best batsman.
His incredible form coincided with a change in attitude that saw he go from having the nickname 'The Bull', to his teammates dubbing him 'The Reverend'.
'I don't know where they've taken the old Davey Warner, but I quite like this new version', his teammate Aaron Finch said towards the end of that tour.
'After Sri Lanka, Davey was obviously pretty down ... and now he's turned the tables and gone ultra-positive.
'It's something that is actually rubbing off on the boys. He's just been ultra-positive around the group and he finds a positive in every scenario.'
David Warner and Steve Smith. Photo / Getty Images
But in the most recent series you could have been forgiven for thinking South Africa had chosen to wear red instead of the traditional white - 'The Bull' was back.
In the first Test, after being instrumental in the wicket of AB de Villiers, he unleashed a spray on his batting partner Aiden Markram.
By the time day four came around he was a marked man, copping abuse from the crowd about his wife Candice's toilet tryst with Sonny Bill Williams in 2007.
When opponent Quinton de Kock reportedly joined in on the attack, Warner had to be held back by his teammates as he threatened to boil over in the dressing rooms.
And boil over they did in the third Test, with the vice-captain the instigator of a plan to use sandpaper to rough the ball in an effort to make it reverse swing.
Warner reportedly 'developed a plan' and 'instructed a junior player (Bancroft)' as to 'how a ball could be artificially altered'.
It was a move that is set to cost him millions of dollars.
In the days since the scandal broke he has lost his $2.4million contract with IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad, as well as his sponsorship deals with electronics giant LG and sports brand Asics.
His sponsorships with Toyota, Channel Nine and Gray Nicolls remain in tact, so far.
The scandal also threatens the popularity of his children's book series, The Kaboom Kid, for which he is paid a royalty on every book sold.
Australian cricketer David Warner and Candice Warner pose with their daughters Ivy (left) and Indi. Photo / AAP
It is not known how much of his $900,000-a-year Cricket Australia contract he is set to receive.
Warner and wife Candice reportedly own a $10million property portfolio with homes throughout Sydney's eastern suburbs.
His financial success saw Warner able to pay off the debt of his parents Howard and Lorraine, as well as purchasing them a nice flat in Matraville.
'David grew up with very little. When you grow up hard you appreciate it more than if you have money all your life,' Howard told media in 2013.
'If you are filthy rich you don't bloody appreciate anything... We never thought he could earn such big dollars but he is working his guts out and it is paying dividends now.
'He's a bloody good kid. It helped us out something terrible. He's basically just put me into retirement so I can go around and watch him play.'
But with the disgraced batsman now only allowed to play grade cricket, it seems Warner will have to drive just a few suburbs to watch his son this year.
