David Warner will play his final bilateral cricket series this week but he is not expecting an affectionate farewell from New Zealand fans in Wellington and Auckland.

The 37-year-old has already retired from Test and ODIs but has delayed his farewell from the shortest format of the game until after the World Cup in the Caribbean and USA in June.

Set to open in Wednesday’s T20 series opener against New Zealand at Wellington Stadium, and the two matches that follow at Eden Park, Warner said he would not let any abuse affect his game.

“Over here, it’s always the harsh reality that we’re neighbours, in sport we like to beat each other,” Warner told
reporters in Wellington on Monday.

“From that perspective, we’re going to be expecting the crowd to come at us as hard as they come. As we always say, it’s in one ear, out the other — if I actually hear anything.”

Warner had described the local fans as “derogatory and pretty vulgar” after the Australians were targeted for abuse during a Test and ODI tour of New Zealand in 2016. “I enjoy playing here,” Warner added. “It’s about coming out and trying to put my best foot forward, and score runs.

“The crowd, yeah, they got personal, but if they have to get personal, that’s their character. We’re here to play the game of cricket that we love, enjoy and put bums on seats to keep the game going.”

The veteran Australia opener said he was going to continue his career in T20 franchise leagues around the world for “another couple of years”.