Canberra
\nAustralia\u2019s chief selector George Bailey confirmed on Monday (July 15) that veteran batter David Warner will not be considered for next year\u2019s Champions Trophy despite the 37-year-old declaring himself available for that ICC event \u201cif selected\u201d.
\nWarner, whose career with the national team ended after Australia\u2019s exit from the T20 World Cup was confirmed, posted on social media last week thanking fans, teammates and support staff but also mentioned that he was \u201copen\u201d to a comeback if picked for the Champions Trophy.
\nBailey, however, confirmed that the selectors had drawn a line in the sand with regards to Warner\u2019s selection. \u201cOur understanding is that David is retired and [he] should be commended on what was an incredible career across all three formats,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cYou never know when Bull\u2019s joking… think he\u2019s just stirring the pot a bit.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s had a wonderful career, can\u2019t celebrate it enough, and think as time goes by, his legacy of what he has done for Australia and we reflect back on that, the legend of a player is only going to continue to grow. But as far as this team goes and the journey to transition to some different players, in his case across all three formats, it\u2019s going to be exciting.\u201d
\nHowever, Bailey clarified that the doors to the national team were not shut on the likes of Ashton Agar and Matthew Wade, who were left out of the squads for the white-ball series in the UK.
\nEven Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell, who have been picked only for the ODI leg of that tour, aren\u2019t out of reckoning building up to the next T20 World Cup – in India and Sri Lanka in 2026..
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anyone who\u2019s not there that we\u2019ve put a line through permanently besides David,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cThis is the way we are going with this squad. If opportunities arise or there are gaps at different points there\u2019s nothing to say that Wadey might not come back, but certainly, at this point, we are excited about giving Josh [Inglis] a run.
\n\u201cThe next T20 World Cup is 2026, so I imagine there may be some more changes than what we are seeing in this squad, but specifically to those guys [Starc and Maxwell], no we haven\u2019t had any conversations about where they think their T20 journey may finish.
\n\u201cCertainly for Glenn and Mitch, the Champions Trophy is very much on the horizon, [and is a] very important tournament for those guys. And Starcy in particular, I think he\u2019s going to have a huge summer. Clearly, some of the decisions made around this series are around prioritising and getting guys right for what will be a really big summer. As far as ending players, seeing where guys might finish up, we haven\u2019t had those conversations.\u201d
\nReflecting on Australia\u2019s T20 World Cup campaign, which came apart in successive defeats to Afghanistan and India, Bailey opined that there was no need to rip up the blueprint of that side but only embellish it with younger, high-potential players like Jake Fraser-McGurk and Cooper Connolly, who\u2019ve been picked for the upcoming assignments.
\n\u201cStill think that T20 side, the foundation of it, is a really, really good team,\u201d he said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t feel like we needed to completely rip it apart and start from scratch. But it\u2019s also a great opportunity to start to explore some other guys. Cooper\u2019s one who hasn\u2019t had an opportunity, [and] there\u2019s a number of guys who have been on some tours and played one or two games but haven\u2019t had a great deal of opportunity yet. So excited to see them get a bit more of an opportunity and start to work out how they fit into that team or into that squad.\u201d
\nBailey also had words of praise for the captain of that squad, Mitchell Marsh, who will lead both the white-ball formats with ODI captain Pat Cummins rested ahead of the big home summer which features a visit from India. \u201cI loved the way he captained through the T20 World Cup,\u201d Bailey said.
\n\u201cHe was really clear on how he wanted to lead that team. He was as disappointed as anyone that we didn\u2019t get to the end goal that everyone was hoping to achieve, but if you look at his early success rate as a captain across T20 he\u2019s done a really great job.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Canberra Australia\u2019s chief selector George Bailey confirmed on Monday (July 15) that veteran batter David Warner will not be considered for next year\u2019s Champions Trophy despite the 37-year-old declaring himself available for that ICC event \u201cif selected\u201d. Warner, whose career with the national team ended after Australia\u2019s exit from the T20 World Cup was confirmed, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-418719","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n