David Warner criticizes the New Zealand crowd for crossing personal boundaries during the 2016 tour, as the teams prepare for upcoming T20Is and Tests. Despite retiring from Tests and ODIs, Warner suggests he might consider playing in the 2025 Champions Trophy if Australia needs him.
Following the T20Is against the West Indies, Warner affirmed that the T20 World Cup in June would mark his final appearance in the short format for Australia. Ahead of the New Zealand tour, he discussed his expectations for the Kiwi crowds and anticipated a similar reception during his farewell tour.
“The crowd, yeah, they got personal, but if they have to get personal, that’s their character. I just go about my business. But that’s upon each individual. If that’s what they feel like they have to do, then so be it.”
“If you want to pay your money to come and abuse people, you have to go back and lay in your own bed. We’re here to play the game of cricket that we love, enjoy and put bums on seats to keep the game going,” said Warner.
However, the dynamic opener conceded that the fierce rivalry between the Trans-Tasmanian teams contributed to such tepid crowd reactions.
“It’s always the harsh reality that we’re neighbours. In sport, we like to beat each other. The schedule has always been a hot topic, but I think definitely, with our rivalry and being close neighbours, it does fit,” added Warner.
Warner stands as one of Australia’s premier batsmen, amassing nearly 19,000 runs and notching 49 centuries. His contributions were pivotal in Australia’s victories in the ODI World Cups of 2015 and 2023, as well as their lone T20 World Cup triumph in 2021.
“If one manages to secure all three, I believe that would be a fantastic achievement”- David Warner
David Warner acknowledged that achieving victory in the upcoming T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the U.S.A. in June, under the captaincy of Pat Cummins, would be remarkable. Australia has previously secured titles in the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup last year.
“If you do happen to hold all three, I think that would be fantastic. I think you (would) become a very, very proud nation sporting nation and we hold ourselves with that pride, being Australian, that we represent everyone in Australia, so for us to (do that would) be great. It’d be very, very fitting for this for this group. We’ve got a great balance here at the moment is all three formats,” said Warner.
“I think the coaching structure, the leadership structure allows us to express ourselves how we want and I feel like the last 18 to 24 months has showcased that build up into where we are today. It’s not just our men. It is the women as well. I think we’re just doing a lot of things right and everyone talks about Australian winning titles,” he added.
Australia’s upcoming T20I series against New Zealand will mark their last engagement in the format before the World Cup. In the previous edition at home in 2022, the Australian team fell short of qualifying for the semi-finals.
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