Former Australian Test captain Michael Clarke has called on national selectors to stick with David Warner for the Ashes series opener at Edgbaston, regardless of how the 36-year-old performs in the World Test Championship final.
On Wednesday, Australia unveiled a 17-player squad for the World Test Championship final and first two Ashes Tests, with national selectors poised to reassess the squad after the Lord’s fixture.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, chief selector George Bailey suggested the Australian starting XI for the WTC final could change ahead of the first Ashes Test because of the “different opposition and different surface”.
Bailey refused to guarantee that Warner was a lock for the Edgbaston Test, confirming the veteran opener will play the WTC final against India.
Watch every match of the 2023 IPL LIVE & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
“We‘ll just get through that Test Championship,” Bailey explained.
“We‘ll be obviously planning behind the scenes, but we’ll have a look at what that looks like as we get there.
“Different opposition and different surface in terms of going from The Oval to start the Ashes. So we‘ll work through that.
“We’ll wait and see what the conditions hold when we get there.”
Warner, who is still searching for his maiden Test century on English soil, averaged 9.50 during his most recent Ashes tour in 2019 and has reached fifty just once in his 15 most recent Test knocks.
However, Clarke, who led Australia during the 2015 Ashes tour, argued that Warner should be picked for the first Test against England if he plays the WTC final against India, regardless of performance in the marquee fixture.
Selectors confident in all-rounder Marsh | 00:56
“I don’t believe that,” Clarke said of Bailey’s comments on Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast.
“Your starting XI for the World Test Championship (Final), in my opinion, needs to be the same XI that walk into that first Test against England, assuming everyone is fit and there’s no injuries.
“Because for mine, that’s called perfect preparation. Here’s a Test match in the exact same conditions as you’re about to play an Ashes series in.
“I’d like to think, even if Davey Warner doesn’t make as many runs as we’d like in his first game, he gets first crack in that first Test against England.”
Former Australian captain Mark Taylor echoed Clarke’s remarks, arguing the starting XI should not change between the WTC final and the Ashes series opener.
“At the moment, (the selectors) don’t believe — and I think it’s a fair point — the very best of someone else is better than the very best of David Warner,” Taylor told 2GB’s Wide World of Sports radio on Thursday morning.
“They obviously want to show some faith by picking him in that World Test Championship final.
“If that’s the way the selectors believe Australia has the best chance of winning the World Test Championship, then it’s got to be the best way that we attack the Ashes because the Ashes begin days after this match ends, so I don’t think you can make a change then.
“The way I look at it, it means David Warner has probably got the World Test Championship, the Edgbaston Test match and Lord’s to find the form that we know that he’s got in him.
“If he can do that, not only will it be a benefit to him and Australian cricket, it’ll settle our whole team down. As we’ve seen with any side in a huge series, that top order is crucial. If it changes quickly and you unsettle a team at the top then you go a long way towards winning a series.”
Taylor also confessed he was surprised Victorian opener Marcus Harris was picked ahead of Western Australian batter Cameron Bancroft, who is coming off a prolific home summer in the Sheffield Shield.
Bancroft scored 945 runs at 59.06 in the first-class competition, plundering four centuries — no other player managed more than two Sheffield Shield tons this summer.
“I’ve got a bit of a concern there, not with Marcus Harris the batter, but I’m worried about his fielding and have been for a while,” Taylor said.
“I’ve always thought as an opening batter, as I was for many years, you’ve got to bring a couple of things to the table.
“Generally, batting is obviously first and foremost, but if that’s not working be a contributor in the field, and unfortunately Marcus is not.
“When David Warner finishes and when Usman Khawaja finishes, which will be in the near future, I would be looking at someone who brings the batting to the table, but also brings some catching.
“That’s where I think (Cameron) Bancroft and (Matt) Renshaw have an advantage over Harris.
“They’re both very good fielders who can make a contribution with their hands as much as with the bat, and I think that’s important in Test match cricket.”
Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody agreed Taylor, questioning why Bancroft and Queensland all-rounder Michael Neser were ignore, arguing national selectors should be rewarding the Sheffield Shield’s most consistent players.
“To me, (Bancroft’s form) warrants some sort of recognition in an Ashes tour,” Moody told ESPNcricinfo.
“Particularly when you have two openers in Warner and Khawaja, who are both at the back-end of their career, it would have been important to have him around that set-up.
“And Michael Neser is a guy that’s done nothing wrong
“Every time he’s played for Australia, those limited opportunities, he’s done the job, he’s delivered, he’s performed, taken wickets
“His style of the bowling in the UK with a Dukes ball, seam up, making the ball seam around and swing, he would have been a handful in those conditions.”
The World Test Championship final gets underway at The Oval on June 7, while the first Ashes Test commences at Edgbaston on June 16.
Renshaw reveals English Ashes dream! | 01:32
