Unburdening his mind and sharpening his feet allowed David Warner to write a defining chapter in his career of colour and controversy that will extend into tours of India and England next year.
The most attacking batsman of note in Australian Test history had lost his way, wearing leaden boots as Cricket Australia’s drawn-out review of his lifetime leadership ban swirled around him for almost a year.
“I was just thinking to myself, ‘So be it. If I’m going to go down swinging I may as well go down playing a cover drive and nick off rather than defending and getting caught at third slip’,” Warner said as he explained how a three-year century drought ended with a double hundred in Melbourne during the second Test against South Africa.
“It’s one of those things I’ve always had in the back of my mind: just go out there and play that way. I’ve always done that in Australia, and tentative is probably the wrong word. I think I’ve allowed myself to go a bit defensive instead of looking to score because of the pitches.
“If you look at the way Travis Head has come out and played his natural game, he managed to do that last year, and he’s done it continuously through this summer as well.
“It’s about just having that comfort of backing yourself and I always do that, but I felt a sense of responsibility to actually adapt to the pitch and conditions that were in front of me. But now it’s just going back to looking to score then my defence will take care of itself.”
David Warner celebrates after reaching 200 against South Africa.Credit:AP
Warner’s numbers had been sliding. Over the past six years his Test average had slipped from 51 to 45 and this year, aged 36, he had averaged under 21 in 10 Tests heading into Boxing Day.
But it is his strike rate of better than 71 that makes Warner such a potent player. Of the 15 Australians who have scored 6000 runs or more, the next best strike rate is Matthew Hayden’s 60, followed by Ricky Ponting and Don Bradman on 59.
Given how destructive he can be with the bat, coach Andrew McDonald and his fellow selectors want Warner on the defining Test tours of India and England next year, and now he has justified selection in the most spectacular way.
Warner has unfinished business in both countries. He averages 24 in India, where Australia have not won a Test series since 2004, and 26 in England, where they haven’t triumphed since 2001. The 2019 Ashes series in England was drawn 2-2.
Warner on . . .
- On the 200 celebration that forced him to retire hurt with cramps: “I only did the one on my knees because I knew I couldn’t jump. And then I thought ‘stuff it, I’m gonna try and jump’. Lo and behold, my calf went on me.”
- On his run out with Marnus Labuschagne: ”He’s hung up a shirt in there – ‘Dave Warner’s hundredth Test, thanks for the barbecue’.”
- On touring India and England at 36: ”I wish you’d stop talking about my age, I don’t feel 36. I’m running faster than a lot of these youngsters in here so when they catch up to me, then I might think about pulling the pin.”
- On his 10-month saga with Cricket Australia over lifting his lifetime captaincy ban: ”It takes its toll immensely … I’ve got all that happening in the background, and I get a message a night before a Test, these are things you don’t want in the back of your mind. And day two, waking up and a lawyer texts about something that has to be spoken about.”
- On the team environment: “When I first started and had guys like Ricky (Ponting) and Mike Hussey, and Watto (Shane Watson) and the rest of them, it was awesome. It was great, I was walking into a change room full of stars, guys I idolised. From then to now, being a senior player, it’s almost like I’ve walked back into that change room again. We’ve got a great core bunch of people.”
Warner is desperate to go on both tours, and jokingly dismissed his age as a factor.
“I’m running faster than a lot of these youngsters in here so when they catch up to me, then I might think about pulling the pin,” he said with a smile.
“The extra motivation for me is winning in India, and completely winning a series in England. I’ve been told by the coach and the selectors they would like me to be there.
“Obviously, there was a lot of stuff before this series going on in my mind. Was there doubts? Yeah of course there were doubts in my mind, but for me, it was about just going out there and still knowing I’ve got that hunger and determination because every time I rock up at training, I’ve got it.
“People keep telling me, ‘You’ll know when it’s time’, and I haven’t really felt that at all yet. I’m still enjoying it, I still know what energy I can bring to the team.
David Warner holds the Mullagh Medal after being awarded player of the match at the MCG.Credit:Getty
“I think once I start losing that spark and energy around training, and taking the mickey out of people and playing some jokes here and there, and pranks, I think that’s when I’ll probably know it’s time.”
Warner says the team environment is a major reason his enjoyment of the game has not waned.
“When I first started and had guys like Ricky [Ponting] and Mike Hussey, and Watto [Shane Watson] and the rest of them, it was awesome,” Warner said. “It was great, I was walking into a change room full of stars, guys I idolised.
“From then to now, being a senior player, it’s almost like I’ve walked back into that change room again. We’ve got a great core bunch of people.
“I’m sure Ricky and Huss and them would have said the same thing when they left. That was their call and this is where we are now.
“It’s a core group that’s really stuck together, we’re very solid. The selectors have shown faith in the 15 they’re constantly picking for the squads, and that shows the quality of the people that are here as well.
“We’ve got a lot of cricket ahead of us, but we know in tough times – we’ve been through Covid and whatnot, and we’ve stuck together really well.
“I think Pakistan brought us even more together because we were pretty much under one banner the whole time.
An exhausted and cramping Warner had to be helped from the field after reaching his double century.Credit:AP
“This team has got a great thing happening at the moment and obviously showing the leadership through the bowling attack and led by our skipper, Patty [Cummins].”
After thrashing South Africa at the MCG on Thursday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead with the Sydney Test to come, Australia have now won four series and drawn one under Cummins’ leadership.
However, the great challenge for Cummins and his team arrives next month with a four-Test tour of India, where Australia’s batsmen have traditionally struggled against spin.
Warner is under no illusions.
“Shall I start the headlines now, before we go over there?” he joked. “I did remember somebody talking about a two-day Test the other week.
“It’s going to be interesting. We know what we’re going to prepare for, they’re going to be turning wickets, and it’s different with each venue.”
“There’s going to be times when it’s going to be challenging over there, but it’s about how our batters can build and bat big like we did in Pakistan.”
‘It takes its toll immensely’: Warner explains leadership ban saga
Warner says his brilliant and ultimately courageous double century against South Africa in Melbourne came because he “parked” the long-running saga around Cricket Australia reviewing his lifetime leadership ban.
“I’m not looking to pick fights with CA, that’s for sure,” Warner said after the second Test against South Africa, which Australia won by an innings and 182 runs. “I’m just glad that whatever’s happened has been dealt with.”
An angry Warner withdraw his application to challenge hi leadership ban from Australian cricket on the eve of the Adelaide Test to avoid a public hearing on the events surrounding the Newlands ball-tampering scandal in 2018.
In a lengthy description of backroom arguments shared with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald at the time, Warner explained he withdrew on the basis that the “irregular” Cricket Australia process had been, and would be, traumatic for his family and teammates.
“It takes its toll immensely,” Warner said. “When we play big series, like an Ashes or we go to India, the whole build-up and suspense … like we’ve gone through a World Cup, and we’re going into a Test series, without playing any red-ball cricket as well.
“And I’ve got all that happening in the background, and I get a message a night before a Test, these are things you don’t want in the back of your mind. And day two, waking up and a lawyer texts about something that has to be spoken about.
“These are things that you don’t want on your mind when you’re going to training or go to the game.
“So for me it was just about trying to get in the right frame of mind, and I just couldn’t because it was difficult. And then when you’re out in the middle, you’re trying to be as positive as you can. And I was hitting them as well as I thought I could, but I was just getting no luck.
“You make your own luck in this game, the game owes you nothing and, fortunately enough, in this game it paid off, which I’m really happy about.”
Warner claimed there was a clear difference in his mindset having walked away from the review process.
“That’s all parked now, I don’t have to worry about that, I’m not even thinking about it,” he said. “The focus is now towards Sydney, and getting myself right for BBL.”
