Last Updated on 1 month by Charbel Coorey
Australia captain Pat Cummins has poured cold water on a potential return for David Warner ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy which begins on November 22 in Perth.
Debates continue to grow as to who Usman Khawaja’s opening partner will be for the big series, and Warner put his hand up earlier this week. Warner, who retired from Test cricket following the three-match series against Pakistan last summer, said he’s always available if Australia desperately need someone.
“I’m always available, just got to pick up the phone,” Warner said, as quoted by journalist Ben Horne in codesports.com.au. “I’m always dead serious. Let’s be honest, the guys have played one red-ball game since their last Test matches in February [against New Zealand], so I’ve almost had the same preparation.”
Pat Cummins confirms Australia will look beyond David Warner
In a fantastic interview with The Grade Cricketer, Cummins said Australia haven’t confirmed who the opener will be, but it won’t be Warner.
“I did speak to Dave a couple of days ago; he said ‘what do you think?’, and I said ‘yep, good luck with the [Sydney] Thunder this year, mate'”, Cummins jokingly said. “Look forward to all your comments on Fox Sports.”
“I reckon it is a bit of wind up, I reckon he doesn’t mind seeing himself in the back page and he starts believing it”, Cummins continued. “We love Davey, but he’s retired, sorry Dave.”
In terms of who the opener will be, Cummins said a decision is yet to be made. The captain says there is still time and plenty of cricket to be played before the first Test, with Australia A matches to come against India A.
“We love davey, but he’s retired”
– Pat Cummins
“If I knew, I probably still wouldn’t tell you, but I don’t know,” Cummins said. “Every year, there’s one batting spot [up for debate]. There’s still water to go under the bridge, I just love seeing it all play out almost as an observer.
“That date [November 22] is almost a month way, it’s not going to get here any sooner… we’ve got time, but everyone wants to know right now.
“I’d wake up and in the papers it’s ‘Trav Head is firming as favourite to open the batting’, and I’m like ‘that’s the first time I’ve ever heard of that’, that’s hilarious,” Cummins said.
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