Australia’s star opener David Warner says that he’s expecting the New Zealand crowd to come at them hard in the upcoming five-T20I series.
The series would be Warner’s last bilateral outing ahead of his planned retirement after T20 World Cup in June later this year. Notably, Warner has already announced his retirement from Tests and ODIs but has left the door open for ICC Champions Trophy in 2025 shall the team needs him.
“I enjoy playing here,” Warner said on the eve of first T20I. “It’s about coming out and trying to put my best foot forward, and score runs.”
The batter, however, remembered Australia’s 2016 tour of New Zealand when the players were abused.
“The crowd, yeah, they got personal, but if they have to get personal, that’s their character … if you want to pay your money to come and abuse people, you have to go back and lay in your own bed.
We’re here to play the game of cricket that we love, enjoy and put bums on seats to keep the game going.
“From that perspective, we’re going to be expecting the crowd to come at us as hard as they come. As we always say, it’s in one ear, out the other – if I actually hear anything,” added the southpaw.
Speaking on his plans once he hangs his boots from international cricket, Warner said he would still play franchise cricket worldwide as he loves this game and owes a lot to it.
“I will definitely keep playing all the franchise leagues for another couple of years,” Warner said, dismissing rumours of him opting to play for Australia beyond the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA.