David Warner arrives home after retiring from international cricket

By Kate Dennett For Daily Mail Australia

09:00 28 Jun 2024, updated 09:10 28 Jun 2024

David Warner reunited with his wife Candice at Sydney Airport on Friday after retiring from international cricket at the ICC’s T20 World Cup.

The cricketer, 37, played his last international cricket match at the Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia on Monday when Australia fell short in the Super Eight.

Afghanistan’s win over Bangladesh sent the team home from the Twenty20 tournament, marking the end of David’s long-standing international career.

Despite the anti-climactic knockout retirement, David appeared in good spirits as he arrived home and reunited with his family at Sydney Airport.

In a sweet reunion, David packed on the PDA with his supportive wife Candice, 39, as they shared a kiss upon their reunion at the airport’s international terminal.

David was also greeted by his youngest daughter Isla Rose, four, who sweetly held up a balloon reading: ‘Welcome home, we missed you.’

The doting father – who also shares kids Ivy Mae, nine, and Indi Rae, eight, with Candice – sweetly shared a hug with Isla Rose upon their adorable reunion.

David beamed from ear-to-ear as he appeared overjoyed to be back with his family after the milestone week.

For his travels, David cut a casual figure in a black hoodie and cream tracksuit bottoms, which he styled with white trainers and a blue baseball cap.

Candice looked as stylish as ever in an all-black ensemble made up of jeans, a fitted T-shirt and a smart jacket.

David bowed out from international cricket this week when Australia lost out to India in the Super Eight, with Afghanistan’s win over Bangladesh then sending the team packing.

In an anticlimactic ending back home, his dismissal came at 2.40am on a Tuesday on the east coast, hardly prime-time viewing for even the most dedicated cricket fan.

And for the first time, the World Cup was not broadcast on free-to-air TV, instead locked behind a paywall with streaming service Amazon Prime.

With Australia chasing 206 for victory, the batsman punched his second ball through cover, and bottom-edged a cut shot for four.

Even after Australia were beaten by 24 runs and he left the ground for a final time, David still didn’t know if his international career was over.

Instead, it was ended back at the team’s hotel, watching as Afghanistan triumphed over Bangladesh in dramatic style and sealed their spot in the semi-finals ahead of Australia.

David has finished as Australia’s second-most prolific run-scorer in history across all formats, stuck on 18,995 runs, behind only Ricky Ponting’s 27,483.

As an opener, he remains unmatched as Australia’s most prolific in Test and T20 cricket, while sitting second only to Adam Gilchrist at the top of the order in ODIs.

He is also one of only five players to be a world champion in Test, ODI and T20 cricket, completing the sport’s triple-crown in England last year. 

His international retirement comes months after David shocked the sporting world by announcing his retirement from Test cricket last June.

He then made the emotional decision to retire from from one-day international cricket in the lead-up to his final Test match.

In January, David made a match-winning 57 runs in his final innings to help Australia secure victory at the SCG and wrap up a 3-0 series win over Pakistan to give him the perfect farewell from red-ball cricket. 

The veteran said he was ‘comfortable’ the time was right to conclude his ODI career also following Australia’s World Cup triumph in India late last year.

He flagged the decision would create opportunities to play franchise cricket overseas and will not rule out a comeback if Australia needs an opener for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025. 

‘It was a decision that I was very, very comfortable with. To win in India, from where we were, was absolutely amazing,’ he said. 

‘The team, not just under the leadership of Patty but the coach Andrew McDonald himself, everything’s just so calm and relaxed inside the team.

‘We go out there, we’re adults, we back ourselves to train to the best of our ability and then go out there and perform. There’s never any added pressure, it’s the same-old, come in, get what you have to get done. We love winning.

‘When we lost two games in a row in India, the bond just got stronger with each other and it’s not by fluke or by chance that we were able to get to where we were.

‘The heroics of Maxi, the captaincy and the skills and execution of the way that we played against India was phenomenal, and not to dismiss the Kolkata semi-final as well.’

‘I know the Champions Trophy is coming up… if I’m playing decent cricket in two years’ time and if they need someone, I’ll be available,’ he added.

The left-hander will continue in the Twenty20 franchise leagues, and should be back in the Big Bash League next summer with Sydney Thunder. 

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