David Warner has opened up on his “emotional” double century in his milestone 100th Test in sweltering hot conditions and under intense scrutiny.
Warner on day two of the Boxing Day Test against South Africa on Tuesday hit his first century in nearly three years in extreme heat weather conditions at the MCG that reached a top of 37 degrees before he was forced to retire after notching 200 due to severe cramp.
With it, Warner became the 10th man in Test history to score a century in 100th test, and just the second to score a double, in a historical feat.
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It was the ideal response from the out-of-form and under-pressure 36-year old in silencing his critics with those who’ve rode the highs and lows with him.
And speaking to Fox Cricket, he admitted the occasion was a lot to take in many ways including having family and close friends in attendance.
“Emotionally it was a tough day out there, but overwhelmed by everything,” Warner told Fox Cricket.
“Not just the occasion, the build up, 100th Test, back up against the wall stuff.
“But just to have my family and closest friends come down and celebrate this with me, as it’s their journey as well. It was absolutely amazing.”
Upon hitting his double ton, there was joyous scenes from Warner’s family – including his wife Candice, his children and his parents – in the MCG stands.
Warner’s mum could even be seen wiping away tears in a showing of how much the occasion meant to his inner circle.
Warner double-century guides Aus to lead | 03:38
“Those scenes there tell it all,” Warner said when re-watching the vision of the celebrations. “We’ve all been through it together and it’s a great ride. We’re continuing this journey together and we absolutely love it.
“Not just to see my wife and my beautiful kids there, but my mum and dad as well. They never like the cameras, they don’t like being interviewed – mum always texts me saying: ‘Why are you doing this? Why are you doing that?’
“But I just say: ‘Mum, just keep embracing it. It’s a great opportunity for all us to keep riding the highs and the lows – it’s not going to last forever’.”
The good times continued for the Warner family post-match when he was greeted by his three daughters with smiles on their faces and embraced with hugs and kisses.
While his parents didn’t come back to the hotel room, Warner could feel their emotion coming through during a phone call.
“I rang mum and dad, they probably had a few too many up in the box. They didn’t want to come home and annoy anyone,” Warner said.
“I could hear my dad in the background tearing up saying: ‘That was the best innings I’ve ever seen.’
“It takes its toll on everyone and I’m just glad they were able to come down and make it.”
It was clearly all worth it in the end for Warner despite battling through some of the toughest batting conditions of his career in both a physical and mental challenge, although the former was more obvious.
He could barely stand at one stage as teammates brought a chair to the middle for him while he was on 192 runs, sitting with a wet towel draped over his face and a physio massaging his legs.
Heck, you wondered if he’d be able to go on, and as Warner explained, nearly his whole body had cramped.
Even when Warner finally hit his double century, the veteran struggled to do his normal big first pump and leap celebration, with sheer adrenaline spurring him on.
“I didn’t want to do the leap and thought: ‘What can I do different?’ When I was down there and did the pump I was like: ‘Let’s just give this a crack’,” he said of his celebrations.
“My left calf was absolutely gone, like everything else was. I actually didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to stretch it or anything.
“Unless you’re in that moment and you’ve been there and you’ve cramped up, it’s hard to eradicate that.
“Honestly, if you could’ve seen me in that ice bath for that next hour, you guys would’ve had a great show.
“It was challenging and we were expecting tents and everything. It was hard work.”
Warner himself was close to tears in a release of all the emotions and distress, conceding he even felt a sense of embarrassment walking off the ground.
Warner puts Proteas under the pump | 02:42
He was however hell bent on one thing: “I did say to the physio: ‘Do not carry me off – I am not getting carried off the field’.”
Despite going into the match under so much pressure, Warner revealed he’d actually been in good form in the nets and almost wanted to be failing during practices to help drive him more.
Alas, it mattered not in the end for this famous knock.
“In the nets, I was feeling so good – and I was almost contemplating not training and just stopping because I felt like I was wasting it,” Warner explained.
“I kept saying to our batting coach Michael Di Venuto: ‘Can you just nick me off or get me out somehow? So I can get into a bit of a grit and a challenge in the nets.
“I felt this game, I wanted to play my way. I wanted to look to score more – if I was going to go down cover driving and nicking off I was going to be happy about that.
“I just back myself to go out there and play my shots.”
