(Reuters) – David Warner has achieved his desire for a hometown farewell from test cricket as he has been included in an unchanged Australia line-up for the third and final test against Pakistan in Sydney next week. Back in June, Warner expressed his wish to end his 12-year test career at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and with Australia leading the series 2-0, the 37-year-old has been granted his wish. Chief selector George Bailey stated, “The National Selection Panel have retained the same squad from Melbourne to Sydney as we look to clean sweep the test series. We look forward to celebrating David Warner’s final test match and his incredible career at his home ground.”
Sydneysider Warner went into the current series with doubts over his form due to a lack of test runs, but he silenced critics with a rapidfire 164 in the first innings of the opening test in Perth. Australia won that test by 360 runs before Pat Cummins secured the second test in Melbourne with a man-of-the-match performance, taking 10 wickets as Pakistan lost by 79 runs in just four days. The series win marked the fourth consecutive win at home for Australia, winning 10 tests out of 12 since Cummins took over as captain ahead of the 2021-22 Ashes series.
Pakistan will be seeking their first test win in Australia for nearly three decades as they head into the meeting at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Australia squad includes Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, and David Warner. Reporting by Michael Church; Editing by Daniel Wallis.
