(Credit Reuters)
Australia legend David Warner will not be making a dramatic U-turn on his retirement plans, as national selector George Bailey affirmed that Warner’s decision to end his international career is considered final.
Warner had recently hinted on social media about potentially participating in next year’s Champions Trophy, despite having previously declared that he had played his final game for Australia.
“I will continue to play franchise cricket for a while, and I am also open to playing for [Australia] in the Champions Trophy if selected,” Warner had posted.
Bailey, however, emphasizes that Australia has already begun its phase of transition.
“Our understanding is that David is retired, and (he) should be commended on what has been an incredible career across all three formats. Certainly, our planning is that he won’t be there in Pakistan,” Bailey said.
“You never know when Bull’s joking…think he’s just stirring the pot a bit. He’s had a wonderful career, can’t celebrate it enough, and think as time goes by, his legacy of what he has done for Australia and we reflect back on that, the legend of a player is only going to continue to grow. But as far as this team goes and the journey to transition to some different players, in his case across all three formats, it’s going to be exciting,” he added.
Warner was a member of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, but they exited in the Super 8 stage following defeats to Afghanistan and India. Australia’s upcoming schedule includes nine additional T20Is this year, featuring series against Scotland, England, and Pakistan, as announced.
Cricket Australia has revealed the squads for their white-ball tour of the UK, opting not to include Matthew Wade in the T20I squad. Meanwhile, players such as Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell have been rested.
“I don’t think there’s anyone who’s not there that we’ve put a line through permanently besides David. This is the way we are going with this squad. If opportunities arise or there are gaps at different points there’s nothing to say that Wadey might not come back, but certainly, at this point, we are excited about giving Josh (Inglis) a run,” Bailey said.
“The next T20 World Cup is 2026, so I imagine there may be some more changes than what we are seeing in this squad but specifically to those guys (Starc and Maxwell), no we haven’t had any conversations about where they think their T20 journey may finish,” he added.
Maxwell and Starc remain strong contenders for selection in the upcoming Champions Trophy as well.
“Certainly for Glenn and Mitch, the Champions Trophy is very much on the horizon, very important tournament for those guys. And Starcy in particular, I think he’s going to have a huge summer. Clearly, some of the decisions made around this series are around prioritising and getting guys right for what will be a really big summer. As far as ending players, seeing where guys might finish up, we haven’t had those conversations,” Bailey said.
