CA admits resting David Warner at certain times was a mistake Cricket Australia has admitted Michael Clarke and David Warner shouldn't have been rested at the same time. CRICKET Australia's high performance manager Pat Howard has conceded the resting of David Warner at the start of the one-day summer was poorly timed. Howard also claimed that the selecting of Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith for just one match each at the start of the limited over series against Sri Lanka "could have been handled better." Howard continued to strongly defend resting Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus before the decisive third Test against South Africa in Perth because the pair were injured, even though that was not revealed until after the match. South Africa won decisively to claim the series 1-0, costing Australia the chance to regain the number one Test ranking. While Mitchell Starc remains devastated he missed his first Boxing Day Test, Howard insisted the 22-year-old was in danger of breaking down if he continued playing. But the batting is another matter entirely, with cricket fans around the country being dudded by a dearth of stars in some one-day and Twenty20 internationals. Injuries to captain Michael Clarke and vice-captain Shane Watson were compounded by the resting of Warner at a time when one-day crowds are shrinking to record lows. Howard agreed it was "fair" to suggest that resting Warner should have happened once Clarke returned to the team following a minor hamstring problem. The high performance manager also agreed that "maybe" it was fairer to rest Australia's stars on overseas tours instead of depriving fans of the country's most explosive batsman. Just three Test players were in the 13-man squad chosen at the start of the one-day summer and just one played in the second match in Adelaide, when Australia was soundly beaten after winning the opening game well. "When Warner went to the West Indies last year he was absolutely cooked," Howard said if defence of resting the batsman. He didn't perform, didn't score runs. And if you look at the last 12 months, ODIs have been his weakest format. Balancing fans versus balancing performance is a hard one. The guys who came in were hungry, the Baileys, the Hugheses, have done well. CA CEO James Sutherland claimed CA was unable to stop Warner competing in the IPL despite constant workload issues, making a mockery of resting him during the Australian season. "We don't have control over him during the resting period," Sutherland said. We can only control what we control, and what we're trying to do is make sure he's the best he can possibly be for the times we need him to be performing. Howard admitted that Smith and Khawaja could have been treated more fairly. "I would have to say we could have done that better, absolutely," he said. I actually feel that if we'd won in Adelaide there would have been a more consistent run. But there was a lot of pressure there. Rotations continued apace yesterday, with Brad Haddin and in form WA fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile called into the squad for the last one-day match in Melbourne tomorrow (Sunday). Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell are preparing to leave for India today as the second of three waves in the 17-man touring party for the four-Test series, beginning at Chennai in 13 days.