Published: Jan 12, 2024, 07:34 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 12, 2024, 07:54 PM (IST)
Stunning opening batsman David Warner arrived by helicopter at the famous SCG on Saturday, prepared to play for Sydney Thunder in a Big Bash League (BBL) match.
The 37-year-old landed in his helicopter on the SCG outfield, having just flown in from attending his brother’s wedding in the Hunter Valley.
In front of his home crowd at the SCG last week, Warner brought his illustrious Test career to an end by leading Australia to a resounding victory in the third Test against Pakistan with a fluid half-century.
David Warner, a legend in contemporary cricket, made a historic arrival at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) prior to Friday’s BBL match between the Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers. The Australian opener, who was flying in from his brother’s wedding, landed in a chopper. The outfield, near the spot where the ‘Thanks Dave’ emblem was painted during his final Test match, was where the chopper touched down.
Steve Smith of the Sydney Sixers will also play in the forthcoming BBL match. “I’ve done my utmost best to get down here and hopefully put some runs on the board,” Warner said in an interview with Channel 7.”If I don’t score any runs, I may appear a little foolish, but it’s my way of giving back to Australian cricket and the BBL. This is where I want to be. My goal is to amuse. “I aim to assist our team in winning the upcoming three games,” he continued.
Prior to the 2018 season, Warner inked a lucrative two-year contract with Thunder, and this game will be the first of three appearances he makes following his retirement from Test cricket. Warner will be absent from those games as he plays in the ILT20 in the United Arab Emirates, but Thunder still has a slim chance of making it to the knockout stages. But now that he needs to participate in the T20I series against the West Indies, it appears he will miss it.
Gurinder Sandhu, Warner’s Thunder teammate, remarked, “He’s going to put in a lot of work to come and play for us. It’s a pleasure to have him here. He may not have scored as many runs as he would have liked, but he was a great asset to the group last year and was a great knowledge-sharer. Among the finest team players is him. He gets to enjoy playing cricket with all the fans.”
Sean Abbott, meanwhile, made jokes on Warner’s arrival. Speaking the day before, the Sixers player remarked, “That’s very Davey, isn’t he a little Hollywood? I’ll be cycling out the gate when Davey lands tomorrow night after turning in my Lime bike today.”
