Warner set to play in West Indies Series despite ILT20 Leg

David Warner set to play in West Indies Series despite ILT20 commitments

The West Indies T20I Series will mark David Warner's final international games played at home.

(Cricket News) David Warner has retired from Test and ODI cricket for Australia, but he is committed to playing in the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the US in June. Australia’s chair of selectors, George Bailey, expects Warner to be available to play in three T20Is against West Indies in February despite the series conflicting with the ILT20 tournament where he is contracted to captain Dubai Capitals.

Warner intends to participate in the ILT20, which starts on January 19 and runs until February 17, but first he must play the three Twenty20 Internationals (TT20Is) against West Indies, which begin on February 9 and end on February 13.

It was previously believed that Warner would miss those matches in order to play in the entire ILT20, even though he is still under contract with Cricket Australia, and that he would return for the next series against New Zealand in New Zealand, which begins on February 21.

Bailey clarified that CA contracted players, like Warner, who will be with the team until the end of June, are expected to play for Australia when selected and will not be granted NOCs to play in other leagues at the same time.

However, Bailey stated that Warner is expected to be selected for the West Indies series and will be expected to play. “He will be part of those T20 matches at the back end of the summer and in New Zealand as well,” he said.

The decision to grant a player a National Team Certificate (NOC) rests with Bailey and CA’s head of national teams Ben Oliver. “I think that is the same with all our Australian contracted players. If they are going to be selected in a squad then they are available,” Bailey stated.

“If they are not then it depends on what sort of domestic cricket responsibilities they have. So, I think [Warner] had flagged that as potentially one of the reasons why he has made the decision to retire from one-day cricket but we are still really excited about what he can provide for that T20 team and hoping he can add one more major trophy to his cabinet.”

Tim David and other Australian T20I-only players who are not centrally contracted have been permitted to miss international series in order to fulfil franchise co

ntracts that they would otherwise lose if they played international cricket; this is because they would not receive the same compensation from CA aside from match fees.

Wade was originally rested from Australia’s T20I series in South Africa last year in order to play a full season in the Hundred, despite being brought in at the last minute as cover following Glenn Maxwell’s injury.

Despite having contracts with CA, Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis were allowed to play in the ILT20 last year, and while they were away, they were only scheduled to miss a few domestic List A matches for their state sides.

Australia’s coach, Andrew McDonald, stated last month that the country’s selectors needed to be more accommodating to their players because of the tight schedule.

“It is getting more cramped. It is tough. It is difficult. I think it comes down to each individual case. Where the player is at within their career. I think every single case should be considered individually and we go from there,” McDonald said. “Every application is different in terms of the circumstances with what cricket they have got coming up.”