David Warner will now land at the SCG when he arrives by helicopter from his brother’s wedding to play for Sydney Thunder against Sydney Sixers on Friday.

The initial plan had been to use Allianz Stadium next door to the cricket ground but that was ruled out. Now he is expected to touch down on the outfield about where the “Thanks Dave” logo was painted during his farewell Test.

Weather permitting, he is due to arrive around 5pm, for what could be a sellout fixture, after attending the wedding in the Hunter Valley then making a swift exit to reach Cessnock airport.

“He’s going to a lot of effort to come and play for us,” Thunder quick Gurinder Sandhu said. “We love having him here. Last year he was awesome for us, maybe didn’t score as many runs as he would have liked but around the group and passing on knowledge was awesome to have him around. He’s one of the better team men. All the fans get to enjoy him playing cricket.”

“He is a bit Hollywood, isn’t he, that’s very Davey,” Sean Abbott of Sydney Sixers joked. “I got the Lime bike in today and I’ll be doing the same tomorrow night and riding out the gate as Davey lands.

“I’m glad they are making it happen because think everyone in the country who is a fan of cricket wants to see David Warner in the BBL and I’m really looking forward to coming up against him. One of the best players in the world and has been for a long time.”

Ahead of last season, Warner signed a big-money two-year deal with Thunder as Cricket Australia made a huge push to get international stars back into the tournament. He has indicated his desire to return next season although will fit appearances around his commentary work on the India Test series.

Sixers, who are looking to lock in a finals spot, will have Steven Smith available for the game with some of Australia’s Test players squeezing in BBL appearances in the gap between the Pakistan and West Indies series.

The game against Sixers is set to be one of three appearances Warner will make for Thunder this season following his Test retirement. The club only have a slim chance of reaching the knockouts but Warner would have been unavailable for those as he will head to the ILT20 in the UAE.

However, he is now expected to return from that tournament to be part of the T20I series against West Indies having remained available in that format ahead of a final international retirement after the T20 World Cup in June.