VETERAN OPENER TO LEAVE GAPING HOLE
It’s fair to say David Warner went out with a bang, a fitting exit given his arrival in the international scene came with the same sort of explosion.
The veteran opener’s value to the Australian team was underlined by the fact that in his final home summer he topped the run-scoring list across all formats for his country.
That’s despite missing five of the available 11 games Australia played, both the two Tests and three ODIs against the West Indies.
Warner, 37, confirmed he’d be retiring from international cricket after the T20 World Cup, that he was “well and truly done”, after claiming player of the series honours in the three T20s against the Windies.
He went out walloping too, with a team-high score of 81, with 54 runs in boundaries, on Tuesday night. Captain Mitch Marsh said he’d been an amazing “servant” for his nation as they look to enjoy a final stand with Warner, who needs just 53 runs to be the highest T20 runscorer ever for Australia.
“It’s obviously been an amazing career for him and it’s kind of fitting for him to finish the way he has,” Marsh said of Warner.
“It’ll probably go a little bit unnoticed this late in the summer, but we’ve been lucky to have him and we’re going to be lucky to have him for a few more months in the T20 team, what a servant to Australian cricket.
“We knew that at the start of the series that we’re going to give guys a go, albeit with a focus to win the series.”
Warner began his final home summer with his biggest score, his 164 first innings runs in the opening Test of the summer against Pakistan in Perth a signal of intent that he wanted to leave a mark on his way out.
The runs rollercoaster included a duck the very next innings, before a 57 at his home ground the SCG, in his Test swan song.
He skipped the ODIs against the West Indies, having walked away from the 50-over format, before returning for the T20s, showing he remains a key plank in Australia’s World Cup title bid, with a series-high 179 runs.
That he will head to the World Cup in the Caribbean and US knowing it’s his last hurrah, bodes well given the way his singular focus benefited the Australian team over the six matches in which he bid farewell to the game on home soil.
“It’s time for the youngsters to come through and showcase their talent,” Warner said as his parting words.
“We’ve got extreme talent here. We’re in good stead for the future.”
Marsh, who is set to lead Australia at the World Cup, was equally enthused about the future.
“We unearthed a lot of great talent in this series and tonight was a great experience for our young guys playing against some of the best finishers in the world,” he said.
“There’s no doubt that’s going to be valuable for our team moving forward.”