David Warner walked out onto the field with his children, Ivy Mae, Indi Rae and Isla Rose, ahead of the start of play on day one of the third Test match between Australia and Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney on Wednesday.
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After months of speculation about his place in the team, Warner will get the send-off he desired in his home city.
Warner, 37, goes into his final Test having plundered 8,695 runs at an average of 44.58, with 26 centuries and 36 half-centuries.
The leadup to the third test between Australia and Pakistan at David Warner’s home Sydney Cricket Ground was always going to be about the opening batter himself playing his final test in the sport’s traditional format.
Warner has helped to hype what amounts to a match with little really on the line for the home side — Australia has already clinched the three-test series with victories in Perth and Melbourne. The visitors still have something to play for — the last time Pakistan beat Australia in a test Australia was 1985 — at the SCG.
Warner announced during a New Year’s Day news conference that he will also add one-day internationals to his retirement list. But in typical Warner fashion, he said he’d make a comeback at the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy if asked.
He said the time was right to conclude his ODI career following Australia’s recent World Cup triumph in India, where he was the champion team’s leading run-scorer.
Warner will continue to play Twenty20 cricket for Australia, at least until T20 World Cup in the United States and Caribbean in June.
“David loves batting at the SCG and I’m sure the crowd is going to be right behind him, and hopefully we can make it special for him,” Pat Cummins said at the toss.
Warner will also retire from the 50-over format as the sixth-highest run-scorer in Australian ODI history, having scored 6,932 runs from his 161 matches, and a two-time World Cup winner. His 22 ODI centuries are the second-most by any Australian ODI player, behind only Ricky Ponting, who made 29 in 105 more innings than Warner played.
The Champions Trophy, set to be played in Pakistan next year, is among the only pieces of silverware missing from Warner’s resume; the last time Australia won it in 2009, he was not yet a certainty for selection in the starting side.
“If I’m playing decent cricket in two years’ time and I’m around and they need someone, I’m going to be available,” he said.
Warner said the decision to quit ODIs would create more opportunities to play franchise cricket overseas, including in the United Arab Emirates-based ILT20. He is also eager to remain in Australia’s Big Bash League after his contract with the Sydney Thunder expires at the end of this season.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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