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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 – while offering the Aussie public to join him for a beer.
Despite scoring a shedload of runs over his long career, the opener hasn’t always endeared himself to the nation thanks to the sandpaper scandal of 2018 and his sometimes bullish manner.
Now, as the end nears for his Test career, he told his final pre-match media conference that he has been able to convince detractors in the past – and would leap at the chance to do so again.
“There are two types of likes and dislikes,” said Warner.
“There are ones that hide behind the keyboard and there are ones in real life who have a sit down with you, have a beer and get to know you. They are the real people who actually support you.
“I’ve had a few of them, where I’ve called people out and had a beer with them and they’ve changed their opinion totally. That goes back probably four, five, six years ago.
“But what you see is what you get. I’m very honest, I’m open, always happy to have a beer with anyone that has a disagreement in the public. If you don’t like what you see on TV, reach out I’ll have a beer with you. That’s open to anyone.”
Speaking ahead of the SCG Test, he also spoke on his captaincy ban that stemmed from the sandpaper incident, and was reaffirmed at the end of 2022 by the Cricket Australia board.
“When I look back at that, it can be handled differently,” said Warner.
“But I think Nick (Hockley, Cricket Australia CEO) did his ultimate best to put that forward to the board and the decision was made, and I’m happy with that.
“I’ve moved forward from that. I’ve got opportunities to lead in the IPL, to lead in the ILT20. I’ve enjoyed my leadership roles.
“But for me, in recent years, I’ve learned that leadership (isn’t) wearing captain’s or vice-captain badges. It’s about being true to yourself, setting an example both on and off the field.
“For me, I think I’m a leader in this team no matter what – you don’t need that C or VC next to your name. I know myself and my energy at times can be annoying and I can be a pest, but I know that inside that changing room it gets everyone up and about.”
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.”
He also let loose that, had things not gone to plan in the Ashes last year, he would have ended his career at Lord’s for the second Test of that series.
“I said my ideal preparation to finish would be Sydney,” said the opener.
“But I actually had Lord’s pencilled in as my last Test, especially if I didn’t go as well as I did as a partnership with Uzzie (Khawaja) at the top of the order.
David Warner of Australia celebrates after scoring a century during day one of the Men’s First Test match between Australia and Pakistan at Optus Stadium on December 14, 2023 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
“If you’re down 2-0, and you go into that third one, and you lose that, I don’t think it’s the right choice to make (to keep going).
“If I was failing and we hadn’t won, then it would have been an easier decision. I didn’t want to put the team or the selectors in a position where they had to think about, ‘Mate, it’s time to push on’.
“It was more about me just going, ‘I’m content with that. I’m happy with it, I’ve had a great career’.”
Instead, he continued on into the Aussie home summer and cemented his right to finish at Sydney with a big hundred against Pakistan at Perth.
“When I looked at Lord’s as a potential finish, I didn’t really have many emotions because I was content,” said Warner.
“But definitely it’s been emotional since Perth, since I’ve been back in Australia and knowing that I’m playing (his last summer).
“Getting that 160, putting us into a great position for the team, it hit home when people in the streets were coming up and saying, ‘Well done, we support you, we back you’.
“It really means a lot.”
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 Sydney 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.”