David Warner recalls his T20 roots ahead of final 20-over tour with Australia

Wellington [New Zealand]: Ahead of his final T20I tour, the star Australian opener David Warner remembered his participation in New Zealand’s domestic 20-over tournament for the Northern Districts Knights and said that it was an eye-opener.

While addressing the media ahead of the first T20 between Australia and New Zealand on Wednesday, the 37-year-old said that “there wasn’t much out there” in New Zealand’s domestic T20 tournament in 2010.

“That was an eye opener – there wasn’t much out there,” Warner was quoted by cricket.com.au as saying.
When Warner was 24 years old, he made his debut for Northern Districts Knights in December 2010. However, he made his international debut in the 50 and 20-over formats next year.

The Aussie added that he had no idea what was going on in the tournament and thought himself in a “ghost town”.

“It was the first place I went to, I didn’t know what was going on. I literally thought it was a ghost town, I was walking down the street and I think it was a Saturday, and there was just no one there,” he added.
Warner further shared his experience and said that they played on a football field in New Zealand.

“And we legitimately played on a football field. It was quite crazy, coming from Australia and then we’re playing on a rugby league field, I was like ‘what’s going on here?’ But I really enjoyed it,” he added.

After the third and final T20I game of the three-match series between West Indies and Australia, in which the hosts suffered a 37-run defeat, Warner confirmed that the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the USA will be his last assignment in international cricket.

Australia’s three-match T20I series against the Kiwis will be Warner’s final tour. The series will kick off on February 21. The second and the third game will be held on February 23 and 25.