Australia National Selector George Bailey Confirms David Warner Is Not In ‘Planning’ For Champions Trophy

Sydney: Australia’s national selector, George Bailey, confirmed that David Warner is not in consideration for next year’s ICC Champions Trophy, which will be held in Pakistan. Warner’s international retirement has come in parts over the last year. He brought the curtain down in Test format in December 2023 after Australia’s three-match red-ball series against Pakistan.
He announced his retirement from the 50-over format after their record-extending sixth ODI World Cup in India last year.
Last month, he had his last dance in international circuit after the Baggy Greens crashed out of the T20 World Cup in the Super 8 stage.
Last week, in an Instagram post, Warner left the door ajar by making himself available for the Champions Trophy 2025.
“I will continue to play franchise cricket for a while, and I am also open to playing for [Australia] in the Champions Trophy if selected,” he posted on Instagram.
However, Bailey confirmed that Warner won’t be in Australia management’s plans as they look to prepare for the tournament.
“Our understanding is that David is retired, and [he] should be commended on what has been an incredible career across all three formats. Certainly, our planning is that he won’t be there in Pakistan,” Bailey said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
“You never know when Bull’s joking… think he’s just stirring the pot a bit. He’s had a wonderful career, can’t 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’s going to be exciting,” he added.
Bailey also reflected on Australia’s campaign in the T20 World Cup, which ended in the Super 8 following their defeats against India and Afghanistan.
“Still think that the T20 side, the foundation of it, is a really good team. It didn’t feel like we needed to completely rip it apart and start from scratch. But it’s also a great opportunity to start to explore some other guys. Cooper’s one who hasn’t had an opportunity, [and] there’s a number of guys who have been on some tours and played one or two games but haven’t 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,” he said.
Mitchell Marsh led the Australian side during the World Cup and he will continue with the captaincy on their upcoming tour of Scotland and England. Pat Cummins has been rested for the entire tour.
“I loved the way he (Marsh) captained through the T20 World Cup. He was really clear on how he wanted to lead that team. He was as disappointed as anyone that we didn’t 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’s done a really great job,” Bailey said.
The Baggy Greens will play a three-match T20I series against Scotland in September. After that, Australia will also play three T20Is and five ODIs against England later in the month.
The three T20Is against Scotland will be played on September 4, 6, and 7, and the England T20I series will begin on September 11.