Australia end David Warner’s hopes of international comeback after retirement

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Australia have rejected the possibility of a David Warner comeback, concluding the opener was “stirring the pot” when he suggested being available for next year’s Champions Trophy.

Warner engineered a protracted goodbye from international cricket, retiring from ODIs in November, Tests in January and finally T20s last month after Australia failed to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

The 37-year-old seemingly left the door ajar for a return last week as he said on social media he was “open” to playing in the eight-team Champions Trophy in Pakistan running from February 19 to March 9.

But Australia men’s selection panel chair George Bailey nixed the idea after announcing the white-ball squads for the tours of England and Scotland in September, with Test captain Pat Cummins rested.

“Our understanding is that David’s retired and should be commended on what is an incredible career across all three formats,” Bailey told reporters.

“Certainly our planning is he won’t be there in Pakistan. I think he’s just stirring the pot a bit.”

While Warner is set to focus on franchise cricket for the rest of his playing career, his vacant spot is likely to be snapped up by Jake Fraser-McGurk, who starred in this year’s Indian Premier League.

The 22-year-old, who had an astronomical strike-rate of 234.04 for Delhi Capitals and thumped 28 of his 141 deliveries for six, is included in both T20 and ODI squads for the tour.

He is joined in the T20 squad by uncapped Cooper Connolly, who has played just one first-class game, ahead of three matches against Scotland and three versus England before a five-match ODI series.

T20 captain Mitchell Marsh will lead both squads with Cummins missing the entire tour as he manages his workload with a view to being fully fit for India’s five-match Test tour of Australia in the winter.

Left-arm quick Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell will join the group for the ODI leg of the tour, while Ashton Agar and Matthew Wade miss out altogether, having been in the T20 World Cup squad.