“David still has a burning desire to open the batting for Australia. There’s still a lot of things that he wants to achieve that he hasn’t achieved,” Candice was quoted as saying to Yahoo Sports.
Despite calls to retire after the third Test against South Africa in Sydney earlier this year, David chose to participate in the recently-concluded four-match Test series and 3 ODIs in India, and The Ashes in June in England.
“And clearly one of those would be to perform at best he possibly can in England against the Dukes ball. Whether the selectors and the coach allow him that, I don’t know. But I do know he still has that desire and that hunger to continue.
“He’d love to go out on his terms but you’re not always afforded that opportunity and David fully realises that.
“He could have easily retired after the Sydney Test this year, but that’s not what he wants. He still wanted to contribute to the team in India and still be there at the Ashes and then we’ll just see,” she added.
Candice confirmed that representing Australia remains the veteran cricketer’s primary objective, despite the availability of numerous T20 leagues for him to play in.
“There are so many (T20 franchises) around the world, whether it be the IPL, the Dubai League, the BBL, America, South Africa, Pakistan. There’s also his role with Fox Sports which he’s excited about and wants to develop. We’ll just have to wait and see but at this stage he’s fully committed to playing cricket for Australia,” ex-Ironwoman added further.
David’s recent form in the red-ball format has been a cause for concern, with calls to drop him from the team. He scored only 26 runs in two Test matches against India before being sidelined due to an elbow injury. Although he was included in the three-match ODI squad against India, he did not feature in the first two games and was dismissed for 23 runs in the series decider.
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