• Home
  • Who Said What
  • Had Lords Penciled In David Warner Reveals Real Reason Behind Delayed Test Retirement

'Had Lord's Penciled In..'- David Warner Reveals Real Reason Behind Delayed Test Retirement

image-lquez55eDavid Warner [AP]

Donning the baggy green is a matter of great pride and responsibility for David Warner, who revealed he would've retired from Test cricket earlier this year during the Ashes 2023 if he hadn't scored runs and done justice to his role in the second match of the marquee series versus England. 

Warner, who is set to call it quits via the New Year's Test at SCG against Pakistan, said he was contemplating retiring via the Lord's Test in July after missing out during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India and the opening Ashes fixture at Edgbaston. 

Since the selectors had also named the initial Ashes squad only for the first two Tests, the 37-year-old felt he might be bidding farewell early from his favourite format if the performances didn't come, having earlier announced his wish to quit on home turf at SCG. 


Warner Reveals He Could've Retired At Lord's

As it transpired, a critical first-innings 66 in Australia's magnificent win over the arch-rivals encouraged Warner to continue playing till the end of the series and stick to his original plan of retiring only after the Pakistan visit. 

Warner said Australia's positive outcomes in the first half of the English summer had acted as a source of inspiration for him, and he had treated his contributions as worthy even as the elusive Test hundred in England didn't come on his last trip either. 

"I said quite clearly in England before the World Test Championship, there was a lot of talk about me and my form, [and] I wanted to nip it in the bud early, I said my ideal preparation to finish would be Sydney," Warner was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. 

"But I actually had Lord's penciled in as my last Test, especially if I didn't go as well as I did as a partnership with Uzzie [Usman Khawaja] at the top of the order."

"Then from there it just followed on that we played some good innings together. I didn't have that hundred [in England] that I always wanted but eluded me."

"But as a team and as a whole we did our bit, so to get this ending is awesome, but it's not about me, it's about us. We've won the series, but to win 3-0 and have a whitewash here at the SCG would be a great thing for the team," he added.