Candice Warner responds to bombshell claims of David's immediate retirement
As 'whispers' continue to swirl around David Warner's Test future, his wife Candice has backed up his repeated denials of an imminent retirement.
As Australian opener David Warner continues to laugh off rumours of his imminent cricket retirement, Candice Warner has sought to reiterate that the 36-year-old isn't planning on walking away until the New Year's Test at the SCG. Warner, amid another below average showing throughout the Ashes, has been forced to fend off talk of an earlier than planned retirement, however he'll have to hold his place in the Test team until the end of the year to see out his plan.
Along with Warner, it has been suggested that Steve Smith could also elect to walk away from Test cricket following the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval. Both Warner and Candice have rubbished talk of the opener retiring straight after the Ashes.
NO WAY: Ponting shuts down Joe Root over 'ridiculous' call amid Ashes furore
'CAN'T DO THAT': Mark Waugh's brutal call on Pat Cummins
“If Davey is going to retire I haven’t heard anything but I’m pretty sure he made it clear at the start of the series that if he can and if he’s playing good enough cricket Sydney will be his last,” Candice told Fox Sports. “I thought he put that to bed a month or so ago.
"In regard to Steve Smith, who knows? He’s one of those players who plays one series at a time.”
Much of the talk has been centred around former England skipper Michael Vaughan saying he had heard 'whispers' around the cricket world that both players were set to walk away from the game. He made it clear that his comments ought to be taken with a healthy grain of salt, as he added that he had 'no idea' where the rumours were actually coming from - but had no problem repeating them on Fox Sports.
“The whisper was - and I have no idea where they’re getting this whisper - but that Warner, if he plays at The Oval, it’ll probably be his last," Vaughan said on Tuesday. “Again I’m not too sure where they’ve got that.
"And quite a strong whisper was about Steve Smith that it could be his last time out for Australia at the Oval as well. Again, I’ve not seen that personally, but it’s just the whisper and the gossip.
“It might just be the rain in Manchester that gets people talking. But that was the talk of the press box yesterday that a couple of Australian legends, greats might call it a day at The Oval.”
Speaking ahead of the decisive fifth Test, in which Australia are looking to secure an outright series victory, Warner said he still had every intention of retiring at the SCG. “I don’t have an announcement,” Warner said of the final showdown at The Oval.
“For me it’s about trying to work hard in the nets as I did today and if selected, go out there and play and try and win an Ashes series. I came here last time and it was a draw.
"Hopefully, we can go away with a series win and then that’ll be a fitting Ashes campaign for us and a fitting tour over here in England with the World Test Championship as well. We’re here as a group and we’re united and hopefully we can achieve that.”
Aussies present united front on David Warner retirement talk
Both Cricket Australia and head coach Andrew McDonald later shot down the suggestions, and Warner did likewise on Wednesday. The 36-year-old vehemently denied the 'whispers' when fronting the media ahead of Thursday's match.
"And Smithy (is retiring) too apparently. So obviously it's a joke," Warner said. "I won't take that too seriously ... I don't have an announcement."
Fellow opener Usman Khawaja recently turned 37, meaning the Aussies will soon be searching for two new batters at the top of the order. As far as Warner is concerned, Matt Renshaw is the man who could potentially take his spot in all formats.
"I've always said Matt Renshaw is a very good player," Warner said. "He can play both formats quite easily. He's tall. He's exactly like Haydos (Matt Hayden). We spoke about him in the early part of his career.
"I've always felt and held him in high regard as a very good player. He's worked on his technique. He's been in and out of the squads, and I think he'll be a great replacement."
Sign up to our newsletter and score the biggest sport stories of the week.
