Record Crowd in Sydney Awaits the Return of Steven Smith, David Warner

Suspended Australia skipper Steven Smith and his deputy, David Warner are all set to take their next step in quest of reviving their careers by vowing to mentor future cricketing stars during their return to grade cricket.

People are expected to come in large numbers at Coogee Oval and Glenn McGrath Oval over this weekend. Warner will represent Randwick-Petersham at Coogee. He will square off against a side from St Geroge which features his teammates, Trent Copeland and Josh Hazlewood. Meanwhile, Steven Smith will be playing alongside Shane Watson for Sutherland.

“Hopefully I can teach some of the young guys the game, help them learn,” Smith said in a video published by the Australian Cricketers’ Association.

“If I can pass on any information to these young guys coming through and help them turn into better players, I’ll do that. We want to see Australian cricket strong, and it starts at this level. The older heads there are around to come and help out, the better,” Smith added.

In the same video clip, David Warner also vouched to help out other younger and older players in the team.

David Warner and Steve Smith will be looking to return in the 2019 World Cup

Warner and Smith will be eyeing an international return in the 2019 World Cup next year. Currently, they are barred from taking part in international cricket due to their ball-tampering controversy in Cape Town back in March earlier in the year.

If both Smith and Warner reject a T20 offer from UAE as expected, then Grade cricket will be the best option for them to revive their careers. It will also give them enough opportunities to spend some quality time in the middle.

Meanwhile, the national selectors, Trevor Hohns, Greg Chappell and Justin Langer will keep a close look at their batting forms in the next few months. Chappell is expected to be in Sydney by this weekend. However, he won’t be paying heed to either of their batting.