Veteran opener David Warner has expressed interest to play white-ball cricket for Australia but won't take up a central contract if Cricket Australia offers one next year.

The southpaw has already announced his Test retirement after the home series against Pakistan in January next year.

However, the 37-year-old is open to playing white-ball cricket for Australia until the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies and possibly till the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

"Everyone wants to set themselves a realistic goal. My goal is still to set my sights on playing the Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean first (in June next year), and I think from there I'll probably decide what I'm going to do with white-ball cricket," Warner told Australian media on Tuesday.

"I'm still feeling fit. I'm very comfortable with what I'm doing. So I've got to sit down and look at what there is, and what I can play."

Warner, however, made it clear that he won't take up a central contract and also explained the reason behind his decision. 

"I won't be taking a contract, definitely not. How the system works in Australia is that if you play five (T20) games or ODIs, or three Tests, you get upgraded and then you're legally bound by contracting system with sponsors and stuff," he said.

"That's something that becomes a bit of a pain in the backside, especially at my stage of my career. So I don't want to be signed to that agreement and that's something I have to think about moving forward, because if you're going to get a low contract, it's going to cost you a lot in the long run with sponsorships.

"I've got to sit back and have a look at what the schedule is, the (ICC) Future Tours schedule and you've got a Champions Trophy that's coming up as well. So they're potentially on my horizon," the left-handed opener added.

Warner, who is Australia's leading run-scorer in the ongoing World Cup with 499 runs, said he doesn't want to take away the central contract from a promising young cricketer by accepting one in the twilight of his cricketing career.

"It's very difficult to say, 'I want to play Twenty20s and one-dayers', but you don't want to be taking contracts from a young kid that's coming through," said Warner.

"And, to be fair, it's probably pointless me taking that contract given that I'm not going to be playing Test cricket... but you don't want to disturb what's happening as well.

"Twenty-year-olds now are going to have to make the decision of whether they're going to go and play international cricket or franchise cricket," he said.

"Fortunately enough, I've had a very good, successful international career and I'm at the back end where I'm able to choose that."

(With PTI Inputs)