David Warner has dropped a bombshell on Australian cricket with the announcement that he is to retire from the ODI team as well as the Test team.
The opener will play his final game in the longest format this week, retiring on home turf at the SCG, but it had been expected that he would carry on in 50-over cricket. He remains available in T20s and will now likely move permanently to playing franchise cricket full-time.
“I’m feeling great,” he said at a press conference ahead of the Sydney Test.
“It’s a great decision (to retire from Tests) I think I’ve made. I’ve got to give back to the family and also on the back of that I think I’m definitely retiring from one-day cricket as well.
“It’s something I had said through the World Cup, get through that, and winning it in India is a massive achievement.
“I make that decision today to retire from those forms, which does allow me time to go and play some other leagues around the world and sort of get the one-day team moving forward a bit.
“I know the Champions Trophy is coming up – if I’m playing decent cricket in two years’ time and if they need someone, I’ll be available.”
Warner leaves as an all-time legend of ODI cricket, with almost 7,000 runs in the format, 22 centuries and an average a tick over 45.
Prior to the Test, Australian coach Andrew McDonald hailed Warner as the best that the country had produced in the T20 era.
“He is probably our greatest ever three-format player,” he said.
“He’ll be a loss. Other people have been gunning for him for a period of time but for us, internally, we’ve seen the great value and what he brings to the table, hence why we’ve kept picking him.
He repaid that faith in the first Test match. It can be hard to replace someone who is striking at 70, averaging 45 (and has the) most ever runs as an Australian opener.”
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