David Warner Makes Cricket Return On Australian Soil, Eyes 2019 World Cup Spot

David Warner returned to playing cricket in Australia and following the match in Darwin, the banished opener said that he is looking to be part of Australia's World Cup defence in 2019. The ICC World Cup 2019 will be held in England and Wales from May 30 to July 14 and the powerful left-hander feels he will get enough opportunities to be in ideal shape for the mega event. "I'm pretty good when I'm fresh," Warner told reporters. "If you look at the last 12 months, I played basically every game (for Australia) and didn't get a rest.

"I had a five-day turnaround before the first Test in South Africa and I led the team in (the T20 tri-series in Australia and) New Zealand when some of the other guys had a rest.

"So I know that the breaks do me (good), and you don't lose form overnight."

Warner smacked 36 runs off 32 balls in the Northern Territory Strike League in Darwin as he searches for match practice to gear for his return to top-level cricket early next year.

Warner, 31, was handed a one-year ban from international and state cricket by Cricket Australia for his role in helping to devise a plan to rub sandpaper on the ball during a Test match against South Africa in March.

He had pledged to play in the cricket outpost while he was involved in community coaching work earlier this year as part of the terms of his ban, and made good his offer in his side City Cyclones' comfortable win against Northern Tide in a 50-over fixture.

Warner said he would be taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2019 and that would serve as good preparation for the World Cup in May-July next year.

"You've got plenty of warm-up games before the World Cup, and I'll be playing the IPL (Indian Premier League T20 competition) as well leading into that," he said.

"So there's plenty of cricket and plenty of world-class players to play against, as well to get my preparation on song."

Warner confirmed his intention to continue at international level once his suspension is completed, and for some time into the future.

"I wouldn't be here today and working my backside off to keep scoring as many runs as I can for each team that I play for if I didn't love it -- I'd probably retire," he said.

"But I've still got plenty of fuel in the tank and I'm excited.

"(I have) the next eight months to reflect upon what's happened and then moving forward to be a better person and a better cricketer.

"I'm just ticking along to make sure I'm preparing well for this and the CPL coming up."

Warner will play for the St Lucia Stars in next month's Caribbean Premier League.

(With AFP Inputs)

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