Warner returns to BBL after nine-year absence

SYDNEY, Aug 21 (Agencies): David Warner will play in the Big Bash League (BBL) for the first time in 10 seasons around the new year in a major coup for the Australian competition in an increasingly crowded Twenty20 marketplace.
The 35-year-old Australia opener had been linked to the new International League T20 (ILT20) in the United Arab Emirates which, along with another new competition in South Africa, will go head-to-head with the BBL early next year.
Warner will bring his star power to the Sydney Thunder at the conclusion of the Test series against South Africa in early January and could play as many as five matches, the team said in a news release on Sunday.
"I'm really excited to get back to the Big Bash with the club where I started," said Warner, who played one game for the Thunder in each of the first and third seasons of BBL.
"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."
The Thunder said they had not yet appointed a new captain for the season after the departure of Usman Khawaja to the Brisbane Heat.
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.
With Indian Premier League (IPL) millions backing the leagues in the UAE and South Africa, Cricket Australia face far more competition for marquee names than they have in past years.
A number of top players have nominated for the BBL's inaugural draft on August 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 04.
Meanwhile, Warner wants to meet Cricket Australia's board about his leadership ban after confirming a BBL return with the Sydney Thunder.
Talk of Warner's return had also centred around possible lifting of his lifetime team leadership ban, imposed by CA after the ball-tampering scandal in 2018.
The Thunder said on Sunday that no decision had been made on their captaincy, after Usman Khawaja moved north to the Brisbane Heat.
"That hasn't been brought to the table (by the Thunder)," Warner said.
"It's upon the (Cricket Australia) board to reach out to me and open the doors and I can sit down and have an honest conversation with them.
"The board has changed since back in 2018 when all those sanctions were dealt. It will be great to have a conversation with them and see where we are at."
Warner's hopes of an end to his leadership ban have been backed by the likes of Test captain Pat Cummins in recent months.
Warner also hoped his return to the BBL would help ensure local players stayed in the Australian system going forward.
"I am almost at the back end of my career, I don't know how much time I have left.
Steve Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are the remaining centrally-contracted players not yet signed up for the BBL, with the latter two pacemen indicating they want to rest at that time.