Australian opener David Warner has announced his intention to retire from Test cricket during the upcoming Australian summer, thus marking the conclusion of his long and successful Test career. Currently, Warner is in England preparing for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final against India, which is scheduled for next week. Subsequently, he is expected to participate in the five-match Ashes series against England that follows immediately.
While Warner has the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India later this year on his radar, the 36-year-old has disclosed his desire to conclude his Test career after Australia’s red-ball match against Pakistan at his home ground in Sydney in January 2024. However, he cleared that he will continue playing white-ball cricket at least until the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“You’ve got to score runs. I’ve always said the (2024) World Cup would probably be my final game,” Warner said speaking to the reporters in Beckenham on Saturday.
“I probably owe it to myself and my family – if I can score runs here and continue to play back in Australia – I can definitely say I won’t be playing that West Indies series. If I can get through this (WTC final and ensuing Ashes campaign) and make the Pakistan series I will definitely finish up then,” added the southpaw.
In his Test career, Warner featured in 103 matches and amassed 8,159 runs for his national team. With 25 tons and 34 half-centuries, he is among the most successful openers for Australia.
“I want to play that 2024 World Cup. It is something that is on the back of my mind. We’ve got a lot of cricket before that, and then I think it stops from February,” Warner added further.
“So for me, then I’ll have to play IPL and some of the other franchise leagues and then get into that rhythm to play in June. There will be a bit of cricket around to play. Who knows I might go back and play a Shield game for New South Wales,” he concluded.
