Australian firey cricket opener veteran David Warner has announced his retirement from One Day International (ODI) cricket just before playing his farewell test in Sydney against Pakistan.
The 37-year-old David Warner will pad up in his 112th and final Test in his home city Sydney on Wednesday, has scored 8,695 runs at an average of 44.58, with 26 centuries and 36 half-centuries.
In a presser at the Sydney Cricket Ground, he also announced his retirement from ODIs, where he has been a fixture since his debut in 2009, helping the team win the World Cup in 2015 and 2023.
“I’ve got to give back to the family and also on the back of that I’m retiring from one-day cricket as well,” he said.
“That was something that I had said through the (2023) World Cup, get through that, and winning it in India, I think that’s a massive achievement.
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“So I’ll make that decision today, to retire from those forms, which does allow me to go and play some other (Twenty20) leagues around the world and sort of get the one-day team moving forward a little bit.
“I know a Champions Trophy is coming up,” he added. “If I’m playing decent cricket in two years and I’m around and they need someone, I’m going to be available.”
The Champions Trophy has not been played since 2017 but is set to be resurrected in 2025 in Pakistan. Traditionally 50-over cricket, reports have said there is a push underway to make it T20.
Warner leaves ODIs after 161 matches, scoring 6,932 runs at an average of 45.30, with 22 centuries. Among Australians, only Ricky Ponting with 30 has scored more one-day tons.
He will continue to be available in the T20 format, with the 2024 World Cup in the Caribbean and United States a target.
Warner’s decision to depart one-dayers means Australia will need a new opener for their three-match series against the West Indies in February, which follows a two-Test series in Adelaide and Brisbane.
In 2018, David Warner, then Australia’s vice-captain, received a one-year ban from all forms of international cricket for his role in the sandpapergate ball-tampering scandal. Cricket Australia, the governing body, revealed that Warner orchestrated a plan to tamper with the ball using sandpaper during a match against South Africa and instructed a junior player to execute it.
As a result, Warner was permanently banned from holding leadership positions in Australian cricket teams. Despite this, he expressed no regrets over his actions in a recent interview with Australian media.
