Australia star southpaw and Delhi Capitals' David Warner is set to return to Big Bash League (BBL) after nine years as he has inked deal with Sydney Thunder.
It will be only the third time that Warner will represent the Thunder, having previously played just one game each in the inaugural edition of the BBL in 2011-12, in which he was the captain, and 2013-14. In those matches, he plundered 102 not out in a match-winning knock against Melbourne Stars and scored a fifty off 31 balls against Sixers two seasons later.
"I’m really excited to get back to the Big Bash with the club where I started," Warner said. "I care deeply about the game, and I am conscious that the conditions that I enjoy as a professional cricketer have largely come from other senior players who have come before me.
"That is how the game is structured and I understand that my contribution to the future of the BBL will hopefully benefit the next generation of players long after I am retired."
Warner also said that his daughters influenced his decision to return to the BBL. “My ‘girls’ have told me that they’d love to watch me play at home and in the BBL. It will be great for us to be a part of the BBL as a family, and it is something that I am really looking forward to sharing with them,” Warner said.
Although Warner would be a natural choice, he is currently ineligible under the terms of the lifetime ban from leadership positions in Australian cricket imposed on him for his part in the 2018 Newlands ball-tampering scandal.
A number of top players have nominated for the BBL’s inaugural draft on Aug. 28, however, including Afghan spinner Rashid Khan and West Indian T20 stalwarts Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo.
The 12th edition of the BBL will run from December 13 to February.
Prior to Warner's return to BBL 12, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne had penned contracts with Adelaide Strikers and Brisbane Heat respectively. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc will, however, skip the competition in order to manage their workload and fitness, given the packed international schedule.
