How a Sydney council plans to pay tribute to David Warner’s Test career – with the move leaving Aussie cricket fans and locals divided

Published: 05:46 GMT, 30 March 2024 | Updated: 05:46 GMT, 30 March 2024

A local Sydney council is keen to pay homage to the Test career of retired Australian opening batsman David Warner – and the move has left cricket fans divided.

Randwick City Council – the local government area (LGA) where Warner spent his junior days crafting his technique – has carried a motion to name a new indoor cricket centre at Maroubra’s Snape Park after the 37-year-old.

In first proposing a cricket venue in the area be named after Warner, the council declared: ‘What better way to celebrate a Randwick City local legend. We all know David Warner as the legendary Test cricketer, but did you know he is also a Matraville boy?

‘After attending Matraville Public School and Randwick Boys High, David went on to become the fifth-highest run scorer in Australia’s Test history and holds the second-highest Australian individual score ever.

‘He was a boy from Matraville who did well.’

A local Sydney council is planning to pay homage to the Test career of retired Australian opening batsman David Warner – and the move has left cricket fans divided

Warner grew up in Matraville and still resides in Sydney’s east with his family (pictured)

Councillor Daniel Rosenfeld, who supported the motion, told Yahoo Sport an original plan to name the nearby Heffron Park nets was considered – before consulting Warner personally about the indoor cricket centre.

‘There was consultation with David in regards to this and the move [to Snape Park] considers David’s junior playing history,’ Rosenfeld said.

‘I believe it is fitting to name such a facility after David given he grew up in our area and achieved great things for the Australian cricket team over a long period of time.’

News of the permanent tribute to Warner from Randwick Council drew a mixed response on social media.

‘That whole park should be named David Warner Oval…what a ripper cricket player,’ one fan said on the Council’s Facebook page.

But another countered: ‘Bad move Randwick City Council, there are far more deserving members of the community to be naming things after.’

A third posted: ‘No he is a disgrace to Australian sport, [a] proven cheat.’

In a decorated Test career, Warner plundered 8786 runs between 2011 and 2024 to finish ahead of fellow openers Matthew Hayden (8626), Mark Taylor (7525) and Michael Slater (5312).

Warner will call time up his international career at the T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies in June.