David Warner is certain that if you sat down for a drink, your opinion of him would change.
Even so, Warner’s cricket career and personal life have progressed to a point where he couldn’t care less about the mere trivialities of being liked by the masses.
Warner makes no secret that his priorities are being a dedicated father to three young children, and doting husband to wife Candice.
“I know the type of person that I am,” said Warner, who sat down for a wide-ranging interview with foxsports.com.au before the start of the season.
“I have three daughters, a beautiful wife, and, for me, I am who I am.”
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At home, Warner is adored by his tight-knit group, but opinion in the cricket world remains divided.
There’s no denying that few characters in the Australian men’s cricket team have been more polarising than the 35-year-old.
From a housing commission block in Sydney’s east, Warner rose through the junior ranks, made his name in white ball cricket, before emerging as a generational, multi-format opener for Australia.
Throughout that remarkable rise, Warner was often billed as a combative figure, not shy of a sledge from behind the stumps, nor a fiery celebration after a big wicket.
Tune into an Australia game these days and you’ll see how things have changed.
Warner has by no means transformed from an aggro pitbull to a docile puppy, but it’s the little things that point to a more relaxed character, like the little dance breaks between overs, or the non-stop banter with teammates often heard over stump mic.
Warner can still turn up the heat in the middle when the situation calls for it, but it’s seemingly more measured, and without the harsh edge that might’ve been previously accepted.
In years that have gone by, Warner displayed an aggresive on-field demeanour — but he revealed that was as much by design as it was natural.
“I think I was always talked about, and talked into being, that aggressor, being that vocal one on the field,” Warner said when asked about his more relaxed approach.
“Obviously I did that because it got the best out of me, but I was also instructed to be that person, ‘it gets the team going’, and all that kind of stuff.
“Now it’s more about worrying about me.”
Warner still acknowledges that he’s not about to suddenly become a fan favourite. The events from Cape Town in 2018, when Warner was found to have played a role in Australian ball-tampering during a bitter series against South Africa, have made sure of that.
But it should come as no surprise that the person you see on TV in the heat of battle is not the same as the person away from the cricket pitch, when the cameras are turned off.
“If you want to sit down to get to know me and have a beer with me, I’m sure your opinion of me would change,” Warner said.
“If you don’t like me for what you see on the TV, if you’ve never met me, I’m sure there’s guys I’ve played with who will say, ‘yeah, he’s great company’.”
Nonetheless, Warner has played for far too long, encountered far too much hate, and is far too loved by those he truly cares about to continue to worry.
“For me, I’ve stopped even thinking about what people think of me because at the end of the day, I’m living my life,” he said.
And fair enough.
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Those who still have an axe to grind with Warner will point to that 2018 series, in which not only the opener, but Australia as a team, went too far.
During that series, Warner was repeatedly subjected to abuse from the crowd, and was involved in a heated stairway altercation with South Africa rival Quinton de Kock. His series ended prematurely when he was sent home, slapped with a 12-month playing ban, and a lifetime leadership ban, for his involvement in Australia’s ball-tampering in Cape Town.
Often under-celebrated is the fact that not only has Warner done the time for the crime, but he has resumed his international career in a way that only the greats could.
Since his return in mid-2019, Warner has amassed 3,802 runs at 48.12 across all formats – a number only bettered by five players, who have all played more matches.
Just last year, Warner was part of Australia’s first ever men’s T20 World Cup triumph, and was named player of the tournament for his haul of 289 runs at 48.16, including 53 off 38 balls in the final.
Warner has lifted the Ashes urn two more times, at home and away. He now also boasts the second-highest Test score ever made by an Australian following his 335 not out against Pakistan in Adelaide in December 2019.
The left-hander is running out of career boxes to tick, but there are potentially glorious chapters still to be written over the next 18 months.
This summer, Warner is slated to make his 100th Test appearance on Boxing Day. He will be just the 14th Australian to reach the rare milestone, joining the likes of Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Allan Border and the Waugh brothers.
Nathan Lyon is the only active Australian player to have played more than 100 Tests.
Warner will also spearhead Australia’s first-ever defence of a men’s World Cup at home when the T20 World Cup comes to these shores in October.
Later in the summer, Warner will make his long-awaited return to the Big Bash League, playing for the Sydney Thunder 10 years after his last appearance.
Remarkably, he’s also in talks to have his leadership ban wiped clean, paving the way for him to hold either the ODI captaincy, or vice captaincy, following Aaron Finch’s retirement.
Warner told reporters this month that he will chat with CA chief Nick Hockley in the coming weeks about a return to leadership with the organisation’s board now virtually unrecognisable from the one that banned him in 2018.
“I haven’t had any conversations at all (yet). But look, I think at the end of the day any opportunity to captain would be a privilege,” Warner said.
“But, from my end, there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge, to have those conversations with Cricket Australia and my main focus is just actually playing cricket.”
Warner added that he’s of the opinion being a leading voice for his teammates in 2017’s bitter, and protracted pay dispute with CA played a role in his additional punishment.
True to his new, relaxed approach, Warner said should he be given a chance to sit down with the board again, he’d be more eager to listen than talk.
“I think at the end of the day it’s about what questions do they want to ask me,” Warner said. “That’s where the conversation starts and then we can lead from there.
“At the end of the day it’s almost a completely new ball game from when 2018 happened. I would be interested to see and hear what their thoughts are and what not. And then we can probably go from there.”
The opener still expects Pat Cummins to be offered the role before him, but simply being in the conversation represents a dramatic turnaround from just three years ago when Warner was making his return.
It would be an appointment that — if nothing else — rewards both the patience and growth of Warner, who took his punishment on the chin.
‘PRETTY MUCH ACCOMPLISHED EVERYTHING I WANTED’
Warner says that he’s not one to look at black-and-white achievements, such as milestones or leadership titles. Nonetheless, he’s sure that, in time, the significance of them will sink in.
“I think you reflect on them when you finish,” he told foxsports.com.au last month. “Would I like a couple more hundreds? Yeah, of course, but at the end of the day winning is what I like. That’s what I play the game for, and having fun.
“100 Tests will obviously be great in Melbourne. Just to have the opportunity for one Test was awesome but to sit there in illustrious, great company, would be really, really fitting.
“Yet again, it will be reflected upon in time to sit there and go, ‘wow, look at the list of these players. To even be in some of the conversations with those guys, even greats…’
“You look at Bradman, he obviously wouldn’t have played that many games. But they’re things that you don’t look at now until later on in life I reckon.”
With a winning record like Warner, you can understand why there’s no need to dwell on milestones.
That said, there was a time that Warner mapped them out and set himself targets for his career.
“My wife actually found a journal while unpacking some stuff from 2013,” he said. “I wrote down what I wanted to achieve and when I was going to retire.
“I had 2033 but crossed out for 2023. I had like 20 (Test) hundreds, 20 ODI hundreds, 10 T20 hundreds, and over, I think, 6,000 Test runs, 5,000 ODI runs and 10,000 T20 runs. So I’ve pretty much ticked all them off bar two ODI (and two T20) hundreds.
“So, for me, going back to 2009, then 2013 labelling all that, I’ve pretty much accomplished everything I wanted to do.”
Indeed, there are few individual accolades left for Warner to achieve across all formats.
In 2009, that would have been hard to believe for a nation that was first getting to know its new, explosive white-ball opener.
Warner debuted for Australia in both T20 and ODI cricket in January 2009 having not even played a first-class game. He fit the mold of a white ball specialist, and went on to play for the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.
It was in Delhi that India legend Virender Sehwag saw what many couldn’t, including Warner.
In 2011, Warner recalled: “When I went to Delhi, Sehwag watched me a couple of times and said to me, ‘you’ll be a better Test cricketer than what you will be a T20 player’.
“I basically looked at him and said, ‘mate, I haven’t even played a first-class game yet’. But he said, ‘all the fielders are around the bat, if the ball is there in your zone you’re still going to hit it. You’re going to have ample opportunity to score runs. You’ve always got to respect the good ball, but you’ve always got to punish the ball you always punish’.”
‘NON-FEAR OF FAILURE’
Two years later, it was all starting to make sense with Warner now part of the red ball equation, too, through an Australia A tour of Zimbabwe, which also featured Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Mitch Marsh.
That tour saw Warner dominate with 666 runs at 74.00, including three centuries and one fifty.
His confidence was sky high – and he knew what would happen next.
“I always said to Nathan Lyon, and he’ll say the same thing, I said to him that I will play that summer coming up that I debuted (in 2011-12),” Warner said.
“We were in Zimbabwe at the time and I said, ‘Mate, I’ll be opening the batting come Christmas time’, and I did.
“I think that was just the confidence that I’ve always had. I’ve always had great self-belief.
“I’ve also always had that non-fear of failure. At the end of the day you’re playing a game that you’re going to get dropped (in). You have to accept that early on.”
Warner made his Test debut against New Zealand at the Gabba in December of that year. And although it was a forgettable debut – he faced just seven balls in the entire match – he didn’t have to wait long to make his mark.
The next Test in Hobart, Warner made an unbeaten 123 in the second innings to lock down a position he hasn’t given up since, excluding his ban post Cape-Town.
WARNER’S RETIREMENT HINT
Now, with his 36th birthday next month, Warner is undoubtedly far closer to the end than the finish.
His 2013 journal marked the year 2023 as his retirement, although Warner says that has been pushed out until at least early 2024 with an away Ashes and 50-over World Cup next year, with the latter flowing into the home summer.
That said, Warner isn’t ruling out the possibility of extending his career beyond that with little obvious candidates to replace him, particularly in Test cricket.
Since Warner’s Test debut, there have been 15 other players who have opened the batting for Australia.
Since he returned from suspension in 2019, he has opened the Test batting with Joe Burns, Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, Will Pucovski and Usman Khawaja.
Only the latter has made the most of the opportunity, with the exception of Pucovski whose progress has been hampered by repeated concussions.
Meanwhile, Khawaja also turns 36 years this year and, like Warner, does not offer a long-term solution at the top of the order.
As such, Warner is aware that he has a duty to fulfil for Australia that could keep him around for some time yet. He’s also aware that he can’t stay forever, with any extended stay delaying the inevitable.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time playing, I’ve still got a lot to give. And I think I owe the next generation of cricketers and the supporters that little bit extra,” he said.
“My goal is to play until the end of next year at least and see where I’m at. There’s a lot of good kids coming through. Obviously me and Uz (Khawaja) open the batting in Test cricket, it’s a big hole to fill … to find one opener is hard but to find two is going to be very hard.
“I’ve always had the care to make sure I leave the game in a good spot, and that means teamwise as well.
“I know when Smithy and I took over, we had some holes there. We went through a three or four year period trying to find a balance. It was extremely difficult. We won some games and some series but weren’t as consistent as we’d like.
“You don’t want to leave those holes, as hard as it is.
“But there’s going to be a time where at least five or six of us go around the same time, in 12 to 18 months.”
