Warner set for minor elbow surgery

David Warner is expected to undergo minor surgery on his injured elbow on Tuesday, after returning home from a stint in the Bangladesh Premier League.

The suspended batsman will check in for an assessment in Melbourne on Tuesday before it's anticipated he'll receive a clean up of his problematic elbow on the same day.

In good news for Australia it's believed the injury is not as serious as the one sustained by Steve Smith, which threatens to derail the former captain's early preparations for June's 50-over World Cup in the UK.

Both Warner and Smith carried small niggles into the Bangladesh Twenty20 competition, before reporting pain and returning home within a week of each other.

The pair's 12-month bans for their involvement in the Cape Town ball-tampering incident end on March 28 and there had been some hope they could return in a one-day series against Pakistan in the UAE.

While Smith would be in a race against the clock to play in that series and the early stages of the Indian Premier League, Warner will likely be fit in time to be available for selection.

Warner continued to play for his Bangladesh franchise, the Sylhet Sixers, before he departed, and scored 61 not out, 63 and 19 in his last three innings at the tournament.

Smith arrived home from Bangladesh last week and immediately had surgery on his right elbow. The 29-year-old will be in an arm brace for six weeks before continuing his rehabilitation.

Australia are expected to play five one-day internationals against Pakistan in the UAE, with the final two matches of that series believed to be after the bans on Smith and Warner have expired. But the fixtures for that tour are yet to be confirmed by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Warner's unbeaten 61 saw him change from his customary left-handed stance to bat right-handed and dispatched West Indian Chris Gayle for 14 from three balls.

He started with a straight drive down the ground for six before sweeping the off-spinner to the rope and then reverse-sweeping – which was in fact a conventional sweep for the southpaw – for another boundary.

"It was one of those things at the back of my mind as I couldn't get Chris (Gayle) away because of his height and the lengths that he was bowling," Warner said at the post-match presentation of his decision to try batting right-handed.

"I play golf right-handed, so I thought I might as well come and swing and clear the ropes.

"It came off."