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WATCH: Warner retires hurt after being struck in the neck

Can Davey claw back some respectability by taking on Rabada? (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
15th August, 2017
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David Warner has left the field unassisted after suffering a painful bouncer blow to the neck while batting in Australia’s intra-squad game.

Warner retired hurt and threw a major scare into the Australian camp on day two of the match in Darwin, their final tune-up before departing for a two-Test tour of Bangladesh.

Early in his side’s second innings and unbeaten on two, the vice-captain attempted a hook shot but misread a short-pitched delivery from Test teammate Josh Hazlewood.

Warner momentarily hit the deck, seemingly a result of the momentum of the stroke as much as the impact of the ball, but almost instantly got back on his feet.

As Hazlewood and skipper Steve Smith rushed to check on his welfare, Warner dropped his bat, removed his helmet and walked off the oval.

The incident served as the latest reminder of the dangers of the sport that were highlighted so tragically by the death of Phillip Hughes, a close friend of Warner, in 2014.

Hughes was struck on the neck by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match and died in hospital two days later.

Warner was close to the sidelines on Tuesday when team doctor Richard Saw reached him, such was the speed and ease at which he was moving.

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Warner, who is icing his neck, is still being assessed by Saw in the rooms.

The early signs suggest Warner is unlikely to be in any doubt for the first Test that starts on August 27.

But he may be short of time in the middle. Warner was dismissed for four on day one before his second innings ended prematurely.

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