David Warner and Steve Smith set to make a comeback against New Zealand

Steve Smith and David Warner are currently serving a one-year suspension period following the ball-tampering scandal at the Newlands in Cape Town last year. Their bans are scheduled to end by the end of next month. During all this while, the tainted duo has been playing in domestic T20 league across the globe, their latest stint coming in the sixth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

The Aussies are next scheduled to play a five-match ODI series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the duo will be eligible to play the last two matches on March 29 and 31 respectively. However, both are currently recovering from an elbow injury that they developed while playing in the BPL. Hence, chances of them playing the matches seem unlikely, to say the least.

A massive development for Smith and Warner

In the meantime, it has been learned that Smith and Warner are set to make a return to their national side against New Zealand as per reports in www.nzherald.co.nz. Australia will play the Black Caps in several warm-up matches. The games will be played in Brisbane as a pre-tournament training camp, before the World Cup, which is scheduled to get underway on Thursday, May 30 in England and Wales.

Warner and Smith playing in those games would allow Australia to manage every step of their reintegration process at the Allan Border Field training base. Justin Langer, the Australian head coach, didn’t mince any words in saying that it would be ‘crazy not to’ take Smith and Warner for the World Cup. Fast bowler Pat Cummins also reckons that the cricketers will do well after comeback.

As far as the mega event is concerned, Australia will play two warm-up games against England and Sri Lanka on May 25 and 27 respectively. The Men in Yellow are the reigning world champions, but many aren’t giving them much of a chance in the upcoming tournament bearing in mind their recent form.

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