David Warner played an unbeaten knock of 155 in his side’s thrilling last-ball win, while former Test skipper Steve Smith made 85 for his Sutherland club as the suspended duo had memorable outings in their return to club cricket in Sydney on Saturday. Both have been banned from playing international and state cricket for a year for their involvement in a ball-tampering scandal and still have another six months to serve.
Smith and Warner are marking their comeback in the new Sydney club cricket season, which got underway this weekend. The latter could not have hoped for a better return, scoring a match-winning knock for Randwick-Petersham, who won by four wickets off the last ball while chasing a stiff target of 278 against St George.
The southpaw carried his bat after completing his hundred which came off in 98 balls with the help of 13 fours and two sixes, including one that went out of the ground. He reached his century with a leg-side single and celebrated the mark as he would in an international match with his trademark leap and a kiss of the badge on his helmet.
.@davidwarner31 reaches his century for @RandyPetesCC vs @stgeorgedcc in grade #cricket at Coogee Oval.@PremCricketNSW @abcgrandstand @abcnews #DavidWarner pic.twitter.com/kdlSoGO9Wq
— Duncan Huntsdale (@duncs_h) September 22, 2018
Talking about David, his former teammate Josh Hazlewood said, “He played really well and is very good in those type of situations. We probably beat anyone else today, except David Warner. It was a pretty special knock.”
A few miles away at the Glenn McGrath Oval, Smith also made his comeback memorable by playing solid 92-ball knock for Sutherland. He got married this week, received a warm welcome from an unusually large crowd and looked his usual twitchy self at the crease as he rattled off a half-century in 62 balls.
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Describing his knock, current Sutherland teammate Shane Watson said, “When he was batting, everyone was really warm with their support, and to be able to see so many people come to a grade game was incredible. It’s awesome to see him playing, even though I’d rather he was playing for Australia. The support he got today will reassure him that everything’s okay, people do make mistakes and people do forgive very quickly.”
.@stevesmith49 raises his 50 (off 62 balls) for @sutherlandcc vs @MosmanCricket in grade #cricket @PremCricketNSW.@abcnews @abcgrandstand #SteveSmith pic.twitter.com/Ktd0xEq2xV
— Duncan Huntsdale (@duncs_h) September 22, 2018
Steve is still standing at the number two position in the ICC Test batsmen rankings and his 85-run knock included six fours and a six before he holed out to mid-on and received another standing ovation as he walked back to the pavilion.
Smith and Warner’s Cricket Australia bans will expire on March 28 next year and it looks like they will be welcomed back into the Australian team for next year’s 50-overs World Cup and Ashes series in England as well. Talking about the same, Australian head coach Justin Langer said, “If our environment’s right and they’re playing well, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be welcomed back in to help us win the World Cup and help us win the Ashes next summer.”
