David Warner hopes he can be remembered as the cricketer that helped change the way Australia played the game, but he admits the sandpaper saga will always taint his legacy.

Warner is undoubtedly one of Australia’s greatest multi-format players, averaging in the mid-40s in both Test and One-day cricket, as well as sitting on 49 international centuries.

However, he is synonymous with ball tampering in the 2018 Test series against South Africa.

He, Steve Smith and Cam Bancroft were all slapped with playing and leadership bans for their roles in the plot to use sandpaper on the ball, and as Warner enters his final fortnight as an international cricketer, he has reflected on how the incident impacted his career.

“Yeah, look, I think it’s going to be inevitable that when people talk about me in 20 or 30 years’ time, there will always be that. There will always be that Sandpaper scandal,” Warner told News Corp from Antigua ahead of Australia’s first super-eights World Cup clash.

“My back was always up against the wall when I came back, and I knew that. I copped my fair share over my career.

“Coming back since (the 12-month ban), I’ve probably been the only one that’s ever copped a lot of flak, from whether it’s people who don’t like the Australian cricket team or don’t like me.

“I’ve always been that person who has copped it.

“OK, it’s fine if they want to do that, but I always feel like I’ve taken a lot of pressure off a lot of guys as well, and I think, understandably, I’ve been that person to be able to absorb that.

“But one can only absorb (so much).

“For me, it’s great to go out knowing I’m not going to cop it any more.

“ … I learnt a lot in that time when I came back as well. Certain things and certain people are protected differently as well.

“I felt I had great support from, especially our coaching group now, and selectors have been great. All in all, I’ve had a privileged career; since 2018, I’ve really enjoyed that time coming back and just being around the guys and training hard and working as hard as I can.”

While ball tampering is a minor offence in the ICC guidelines, with the cricketing body only handing out fines and one-match bans, Cricket Australia made an example of the trio.

And Warner says he believes it was blown out of proportion, particularly when politicians became involved, using NFL superstar Tom Brady’s Deflategate – where the legendary quarterback had playoff footballs deliberately deflated to make them easier to throw – as an example.