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That’s a fair question. David Warner has turned into a loose cannon when he was once a happy-go-lucky swashbuckling opening batsman who viewed the baggy green as his Holy Grail.
He was an excitement machine who drew big crowds to watch him destroy any attack.
But in the space of three weeks, the 26-year-old has been fined $5,750 for an abusive Tweet against two Australian cricket scribes, and last night he copped an $11,500 fine and was suspended from all cricket until the first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge starting July 10.
The charge?
Clipping England batsman Joe Root on the chin at a Birmingham nightclub at 2 in the morning last Sunday.
Which begs the question: why were Warner, Clint McKay, Phil Hughes, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, and Matt Wade at a nightclub at 2am?
It’s not as if they had something to celebrate. The Australian cricket team at the moment is a shambles, an embarrassment.
And Warner can’t buy a run with 0, 0, 9 in his last three visits to the crease.
In all fairness, the two Warner brain explosions aren’t of national import, nor a danger to national security,
But once a player is in Cricket Australia’s bad books, and that’s exactly where Warner is at the moment, there’s a fine line between being picked and punted.
The suspension means Warner will certainly miss the first Ashes Test, and will have precious few chances after that to regain his spot.
In short, David Warner is between a rock and hard place, with no room to move. He’s stuffed.
It’s interesting to read the message between three quotes, starting with Australian captain Michael Clarke waxing lyrical:
“Davey has great potential to be a leader of the Australian cricket team. He’s a wonderful guy, he’s a wonderful player”.
England legend Sir Ian Botham, no stranger to controversy in his illustrious career, said: “No big deal, David Warner chinned Joe Root, then apologised. Let’s get on with the cricket”.
But another former England skipper Michael Vaughan spat a few chips.
“You’ve got to have some kind of screw loose to do that (punch Root)”.
Somewhere between those quotes is what makes the David Warner of today tick.
For his own sake, and that of Australian cricket, he had better bite the bullet in a hurry.
The jury, which is Cricket Australia, is out.
But they will come back in a flash if Warner puts so much as a toe-nail out of place in the future.
And that will be that – a cricket tragedy of his own making.