Despite his contract with Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 competition, Australia’s head of selectors George Bailey expects David Warner to participate in three T20Is against West Indies in February.
Warner has retired from Test and ODI cricket for Australia but will participate in the June Caribbean and US T20 World Cup.
Warner plans to play in the ILT20 on January 20 after the BBL’s home and away phase ends, with Sydney Thunder missing finals to avoid a schedule clash. Tournament goes till February 18, however three T20Is vs West Indies start on February 9 and end on February 13.
Warner was expected to miss those matches to participate in the ILT20 despite still having a Cricket Australia contract and return for the February 21 series against New Zealand in New Zealand.
But Bailey said Warner will be picked for the West Indies series and expects to participate
“He’ll be part of those T20 matches at the back end of the summer and in New Zealand as well,” he said.
Bailey affirmed that CA-contracted players, like Warner until June, must play for Australia when picked and cannot receive NOCs to play in other leagues.
I assume all our Australian-contracted players are like that. Bailey stated they’re available if picked for a squad. “If not, it depends on their domestic cricket duties. I believe [Warner] identified it as one of the reasons he retired from one-day cricket, but we’re still enthusiastic about what he can do to that T20 squad and hope he can add another major prize to his cabinet.”
Bailey and CA’s head of national teams Ben Oliver have consistently determined which players receive NOCs by treating each situation differently.
In recent years, Australian T20I-only players like Matthew Wade and Tim David have been permitted to miss international series to fulfill franchise contracts they would forfeit if they played international cricket. Since CA match fees would be their only compensation, the exclusions were made.
David missed an opportunity to play T20Is for Australia in 2022 to play in the PSL, while Wade was rested from Australia’s T20I series in South Africa last year to play a full Hundred season, but he was flown in at the last minute as cover after Glenn Maxwell was injured.
Despite being CA-contracted players, Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis were cleared to go to the ILT20 last year, although they only missed a few domestic List A games for respective state teams.
Last month, Australia coach Andrew McDonald said selectors had to be more flexible with players due to the tight timeline.
“Every application is different in terms of the circumstances with what cricket they’ve got coming up,” McDonald said. “It’s getting more cramped. It’s tough. It’s difficult. I think it comes down to each individual case. Where the player is at within their career. I think every every case should be considered individually and we go from there.”
