'Not the immediate plan' - Tim David rules out ODI push amid packed T20 schedule

Tim David has revealed that he has no immediate plans to play List A cricket to strengthen his case for an ODI recall, despite recent changes in Australia’s 50-over setup following the retirement of key senior players.

The 29-year-old has been a regular in Australia’s T20 side since 2022, and while selectors believe his explosive skills could translate to the 50-over format, David is not currently pursuing domestic opportunities to press for selection.

David was selected for four ODIs in South Africa in 2023, ahead of the World Cup in India, during a period when Glenn Maxwell was sidelined due to injury. That call-up came despite David not playing a single List A match since 2021, the year he scored twin centuries for Surrey in England’s Royal London Cup.

David has played just one One-Day Cup match for Tasmania back in November 2021 and has not held a domestic contract in Australia since his rookie listing with Western Australia in the 2017–18 season, prior to representing Singapore internationally. His last 50-over match at any level remains the ODI he played in 2023.

Although he has signed with the Hobart Hurricanes for two more Big Bash League (BBL) seasons, David remains focused on T20 cricket. With the recent retirements of Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, and Steven Smith, Australia’s ODI side is undergoing a transition and seeking new finishing options. However, David has confirmed that while he has been in discussions with personal mentors, he has no current plans to push for ODI selection through domestic 50-over cricket.

"Definitely having conversations in the background with my coaches, and people that I want to talk to about my game at the moment. I'm not too sure, to be honest. It's not the immediate plan. We've had such a busy year, to be honest, leading up to this T20 World Cup,” David said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“The winter actually looks quite different for me this year. Previously, I would have been away for four or five months in a row over the winter playing competitions. And now we've got so many T20 series that there's not much time to think about much else. So we'll see how that develops. But at the moment, I have no plans," he added.

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David is currently undergoing rehabilitation for a hamstring injury in Perth as he prepares for Australia’s upcoming T20I tour of the Caribbean, which begins on July 20 in Jamaica.

The power-hitter has been sidelined since sustaining the injury during the IPL, where he played a crucial role in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) historic title-winning campaign, the franchise's first, despite missing the playoffs due to the setback.

David was initially scheduled to return to competitive cricket in the upcoming Global T20 Guyana tournament, representing the Hobart Hurricanes. However, his recovery has taken slightly longer than expected, ruling him out of the tournament’s start on Thursday.

"Initially, that was the plan, especially once the Hurricanes had a team in the GSL. Unfortunately, the injury and just the nature of it was going to be a pretty tight time schedule. And I've probably got a couple of things that I need to tick off with the CA guys when I get over to Jamaica just before they're fully comfortable, but I'm feeling confident. And unfortunately, just the timeframe of what those recoveries look like the GSL was, it was tough for me to get up," David said.

Australia is gearing up for a packed T20I schedule, beginning with a five-match series in the Caribbean, followed by a three-match home series against South Africa in Darwin and Cairns. This streak of eight consecutive T20Is will lead up to a three-match ODI series against South Africa.

The team will then head to New Zealand for a three-match T20I series in early October, before hosting India for five T20Is in late October and early November.

David, currently recovering from a hamstring injury, will not feature in The Hundred due to scheduling conflicts with the South Africa series. However, he is set to return to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), rejoining the St. Lucia Kings once his rehab is complete.

The squads for the South Africa series are yet to be announced, but David is already in the Caribbean, where he is joined by fellow Hobart Hurricanes teammate Mitchell Owen. Owen is poised to make his T20I debut for Australia following impressive performances in the BBL and Major League Cricket (MLC) for Washington Freedom.

"Excited to see him go. He's been playing very well over there in the US. We've obviously seen what he did last year for the Hurricanes, and that's an exciting period for him. He's playing confident cricket. And as a teammate and someone who's seen him growing, we want to keep encouraging that. So exciting time for him," David said.

David has officially re-signed with the Hobart Hurricanes for the next two seasons, putting an end to speculation about his future in the BBL. There were rumours that David might be on the move after he was not listed among the Hurricanes’ 10 mandatory pre-signed players ahead of the BBL free agency period earlier this year. However, he has clarified that he was never considering a departure, despite the gap in finalising the deal. 

"The biggest reason for the delay is the new 10-player rule. So that obviously just added a little bit of complexity to getting that done with our 10 spots fully filled. There wasn't any uncertainty [for me]. There was a little bit of uncertainty in the fact that there were media articles saying that I was leaving and I was copping from the hill a little bit. That's just the nature of how it is,” David said.

“You've got to keep it to yourself. But there was always good communication throughout that period with people making decisions at Cricket Tasmania and the Hurricanes. So a little bit frustrating that that was kind of the narrative around the period of finals when it wasn't really a starter for me," he concluded.