David Warner has sensationally offered to come out of retirement to play Test cricket again for Australia, after putting his hand up to feature in the five-Test series against India, starting next month. Warner was one of the country’s greatest ever openers after scoring 8,786 runs at an average of 44.59 across 112 Tests – which included 26 centuries and 37 half centuries.
However, the veteran batter retired from ODIs last year and hung up the gloves on red-ball cricket in January after the Test series against Pakistan. Warner then retired from all three formats for the national side after calling time on his T20 international career following Australia’s exit from the T20 World Cup in June. He still plays T20 franchise cricket and signed a two-year deal with the Sydney Thunder in the BBL.
Warner has not played in the Sheffield Shield since 2021 but told News Corp on Tuesday he’d be “more than happy” to play in the next round of fixtures for NSW if he was needed for the India series. Aussie selectors are yet to decide on who will partner Usman Khawaja at the top of the order for Australia, with Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Sam Konstas believed to be the main three in contention.
All three openers have struggled to make an emphatic case so far this week in the Sheffield Shield, leaving Warner to make the staggering suggestion that he could backflip on his retirement and answer an SOS if the Aussie selectors come calling. The 37-year-old said he was “dead serious” and argued that the other candidates have hardly played much more red-ball cricket than him.
“I’m always available, just got to pick up the phone,” Warner told News Corp. “I’m always dead serious. Let’s be honest, the guys have played one red ball game (first round of the Sheffield Shield) since their last Test matches in February, so I’ve almost had the same preparation. Honestly, if they really needed myself for this series, I’m more than happy to play the next Shield game and go out there and play.”
Warner says he’s comfortable with his decision to retire from Test cricket but says he’s willing to put his hand up if Australian selectors desperately needed someone. However, the 37-year-old revealed he messaged both Australia coach Andrew McDonald and chief selector George Bailey about a potential return and said McDonald replied: “You retired.”
The Warner development only complicates the selection mystery further after a mixed bag of scores from the leading candidates in the Sheffield Shield. WA’s Bancroft followed back-to-back ducks against Queensland with eight in his first innings against Tasmania, with his fellow contenders Harris (26 and 16), Matthew Renshaw (2) and 19-year-old prodigy Konstas (2 and 43) unable to make an irresistible case for selection.
David Warner set for new role during summer of cricket
Warner’s offer to come out of retirement comes after details emerged of his new role on Kayo Sports’ commentary team for the summer of cricket. The 37-year-old will begins his commentary role on November 4 for the first of three T20 matches between Australia and Pakistan. And he will also be behind the microphone for the entire five-Test series between Australia and India.
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Fellow Aussie cricket great Brett Lee says Warner will bring plenty of energy and expertise to the role and welcomed his addition to the team. “I think the Australian public will appreciate in probably 12 to 18 months actually how good David Warner was as a cricketer,” Lee said. For us at Fox and Kayo to get him and his leadership qualities and the way he understands the game and what he can bring for the audience will be massive.”
