BBL 2024/25: David Warner appointed captain of Sydney Thunder after leadership ban lifted

David Warner retired from international cricket earlier this year.

Former Australia opener David Warner is set to lead Sydney Thunder in the upcoming Big Bash League (BBL) 2024/25 season. He will replace Chris Green as the skipper of the Thunder.

The confirmation of this appointment comes less than 10 days from the start of the tournament. This appointment seemed inevitable once Cricket Australia (CA) lifted the lifetime leadership ban on Warner last month.

In the aftermath of the 2018 Sandpaper Gate scandal in Cape Town, CA had banned Warner for holding official leadership roles in Australian cricket, though he did lead sides in the BPL, IPL, and ILT20 during this period.

This was the last piece of that puzzle for me: David Warner

Last month, a three-member Review Panel found that Warner was “sincere and genuine in acknowledging responsibility for the conduct and in his statement that he had extreme remorse for his conduct” during the ball-tampering scandal.

Having retired from international cricket earlier this year, Warner is available for the entire BBL 2024/25 season and will be leading the Thunder.

Warner said, “Quite clearly that was the last piece of that puzzle for me, and now it’s about coming out and sharing my knowledge of the game. Forever, that was probably going to be on my CV as well. You don’t want to look back when you go for a job interview and have ‘banned for life from a leadership perspective’ on your CV. That’s something that I’ll be able to now share with my girls moving forward that I’m able to actually be a leader.”

Warner had once led the Thunder in the BBL back in 2011. On his BBL captaincy debut, the left-hander blasted a century against Melbourne Stars.

The BBL will kick off on December 15 and Thunder’s first match is on December 17 against Adelaide Strikers in Canberra. They will then take on Sydney Sixers in the first Sydney derby of the season on December 21 at the Showground stadium.

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