‘I’m exhausted’: David Warner wants to skip compulsory cricket awards night

David Warner is “exhausted” after the summer of cricket and says he’d rather stay at home than attend an awards night.

David Warner says he’s “exhausted” after a gruelling summer of cricket and would rather stay at home than attend the Allan Border Medal on Monday night.

Warner’s underwhelming Big Bash stint came to an end on Friday after rain washed away any chance he and the Sydney Thunder had of staying alive in the BBL.

Warner was on 36 not out when the heavens opened up with the Thunder eight runs short on the DLS method in pursuit of the Heat’s ground record 5-203.

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It looked like the players would get back on after a 45-minute delay at 1-52 with the hosts requiring 38 off 13 deliveries, but another downpour put an end to that with Usman Khawaja’s 94 enough to get the Heat through with an eight-run win (DLS).

Warner played six BBL games for the Thunder (for scores of 19, 0, 26, 16, 2, and 36) and the game against the Heat was his 22nd in all formats since the start of October, dating back to the three-match T20 series against the West Indies before the T20 World Cup.

During that time, his longest break has been less than a fortnight and the 36-year-old said the jam-packed schedule of summer cricket has caught up to him.

David Warner is exhausted after the Aussie summer of cricket. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)

“It’s been challenging. I’m quite tired, I’m exhausted,” Warner said after the loss to the Heat.

“For me it’s about coming back and injecting some energy into the Thunder team and putting my best foot forward for the team by playing my role for Australian cricket which is to come back and hopefully put some entertainment out there.

“It hasn’t come off this year, but hopefully next year I can come out and be a little fresher than what I am at the moment.

“We had a World Cup to start the season. Next year we’re going to have a World Cup as well so it’s going to be a long lead-in to our summer. So from a personal perspective, I’m going to have to work out how to stay fresh.”

The Australian Test squad will fly out to India on Tuesday for the four-Test series and Warner conceded he would rather spend a night at home with his family instead of attending the Australian Cricket Awards in Sydney on Monday night.

“I’ll have five days at home now with the Australian Cricket Awards as well,” he said.

“(I’m) not thinking about cricket, just going out and enjoying family time.

“Take the wife out for dinner, and we’ll see how we go with the girls, see what they want to do before they go back to school on Monday. I’m just looking forward to that.”

Warner doesn’t want to attend the AB Medal. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

Warner was frustrated his attendance at the awards night is mandatory, given fellow Australian players Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa won’t be there because they are playing in the ILT20 League in the UAE.

“A few guys have gone to the UAE, which aren’t going to the awards,” said Warner, a three-time winner of the Allan Border Medal as Australia’s best player of the year across all format.

“From my perspective, it would have been nice to have had another night at home, but it is what it is.”

Warner’s comments about being burnt out aren’t exactly ideal just over a week out from the start of Test series against India — one of the team’s biggest tours in recent years.

Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne are in the squad for the India series but will play in the Heat’s next sudden death BBL final against the Melbourne Renegades on Sunday in Melbourne before attending the cricket awards in Sydney on Monday.

“We’re obviously going away for six-and-a-half weeks, my family is coming over for the AB Medal that’s happening (in Sydney) on the 30th,” Khawaja said of the packed schedule.

“There’s a lot happening right now.”