Warne's tip for World Cup's top player

Shane Warne has tipped suspended Australia batsman David Warner to be named Player of the Tournament at this year's World Cup.

Warner yesterday made a successful return from an elbow injury in Sydney's Premier Cricket competition, hitting 110 from 77 balls for Randwick-Petersham, and the opening batsman's 12-month international ban expires on March 28.

While he and Steve Smith both set to miss Australia's upcoming tour of the UAE for a five-match ODI series with Pakistan, the pair is expected to return to the top level domestic cricket via the Indian Premier League, which begins on March 23.

Warne, who was infamously suspended for 12 months for using banned diuretics in 2003, had said this week he expects both players to return to the game hungrier than ever – just as he did in 2004 and 2005, when he took 166 wickets at 22.89 in 27 Tests, including 40 in the epic '05 Ashes.

Speaking with the Telegraph in London, he pinpointed Warner as the man he expected to dominate this year's World Cup in England.

"All I can go on is experience having a year off myself," Warne said. "The next four years were the best I ever had.

"I was hungry for the game. My body and mind were fresh and it is amazing how excited you are to play again.

"The little things that used to make you say 'here we go again' don't matter anymore.

"You get excited just going to the nets again because you have taken it for granted in the past so I think they will come back better than they were.

"They are going to come out and destroy attacks and I back David Warner to be the player of the World Cup."

Warner, 32, has 14 ODI hundreds to his name – more than any other active Australian player – and 10 of those came in 2016-17, a period in which he established himself as one of the world's best in the 50-over format.

However, he is yet to register three figures in the UK (where he averages 31 from 10 ODIs, with two fifties) and will doubtless find himself the centre of attention in a country where he has a chequered past.

Australia's World Cup campaign begins on June 1 against Afghanistan in Bristol.

Australia's World Cup fixtures

May 25: (warm-up) England v Australia, Southampton

May 27: (warm-up) Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton

June 1: Afghanistan v Australia, Bristol (D/N)

June 6: Australia v West Indies, Trent Bridge

June 9: India v Australia, The Oval

June 12: Australia v Pakistan, Taunton

June 15: Sri Lanka v Australia, The Oval

June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge

June 25: England v Australia, Lord's

June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)

July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)

July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford

July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston

July 14: Final, Lord's

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE