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Australian batter David Warner is all set for a new role after he decides to call it quits in Test cricket. The 37-year-old has joined hands with Fox Cricket as a commentator and will be sitting on the panel on a full-time basis once he retires. The news of Warner joining Fox Cricket as a commentator was revealed late on Monday (2 January) when Foxtel Group extended their contract with Cricket Australia as the official broadcaster of their games.
The swashbuckling batter will join a star-studded team involving Adam Gilchrist, Isa Guha, Mike Hussey, Allan Border, Mark Waugh, Kerry O’Keeffe, Brett Lee, Brendon Julian, Mel Jones, Mark Howard and Kath Loughnan. The southpaw will be expected to fill in the void created by the departure of Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds.
“I think it’s not possible to replace Shane (Warne) and Andrew (Symonds),” Delany told media at the SCG after the groundbreaking rights announcement. "We’ve thought long and hard about what we might do with the coverage. When you’ve got names like Gilchrist and Guha, Hussey, Border, Waugh, Mel Jones, it’s a very, very big team,” Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany said.
“If you had one shot though at a commentator of the current crop to replace those two, you’d probably have to say Dave Warner is the name. He’s a brawler, he’s a fighter, he’s exciting. From the moment he stepped out on the patch, I remember in the Big Bash in 2011 when he first came to real dominance, we’re very glad that we’ve now signed him for now and the future. I think he’ll be a very, very good cricket commentator.”
“I’ve been around sports broadcasting a long time and believe David Warner is made for commentary the same he was made to open the batting,” said Fox Sports Executive Director Steve Crawley.