Disgraced former Australian vice-captain David Warner will start his road to redemption by appearing for Sydney’s Randwick Petersham cricket club, officials said.
The left-hander is currently serving a year-long suspension from international cricket for being guilty of ball tempering during the third Test in South Africa in March
But he is free to play at club level and is set to make a return to the field in September.
Randwick Petersham club president Mike Whitney, a former Test fast bowler, said Warner will play in at least three of the first four matches of the season.
“We’re delighted to have him. He’s one of the best players Australia has had since World War II,” he told the local Southern Courier newspaper on Wednesday.
“He’s been speaking to one of our club officials and he has committed to the first three or four rounds of the season. Why it is only three or four rounds at this stage I don’t know.”
Warner has also been linked with playing in the Northern Territory’s limited-overs Strike League.
Warner has been on the books at Randwick Petersham since 2013-14, but has rarely played due to state, international and Indian Premier League commitments.
He was identified as the mastermind behind the plan to tamper with the ball.
While former skipper Steve Smith was charged with knowledge of the plot, Warner was charged with developing it and instructing Cameron Bancroft to carry it out.