So Australian cricket’s wild child has tamed a second-string South African attack in a nondescript match in Pretoria and all of sudden he’s a potential Ashes saviour? Yeah, right.
Surely that says a hell of a lot more about the sheer desperation in the Australian camp than it does about David Warner’s readiness for a return to Test action at Old Trafford next week.
Yes, of course that rousing 193, for Australia A against South Africa A was a timely reminder of what Warner, at his imperious best is capable of.
And God knows he needed it to restore some much-needed confidence after an appalling recent run that (IPL matches aside) reads: 2, 0, 8, 0, 0, 9, 6, 11.
Yes, you could also suggest it more than justified, if belatedly, the decision to pack the controversy-dogged New South Welshman off to the Republic to get his act together.
But, seriously, what has it really achieved?
How on earth do you line up that 193, in a match of that sort, in faraway Pretoria, against a quality innings by one of his top-six rivals back in England?
That’s the dilemma Darren Lehmann and tour selectors now face as a hotchpotch, Ed Cowan-led outfit attempt to revive their flagging fortunes in a three-day match against Sussex at Hove.
Cricket Australia obviously couldn’t have it both ways with Warner, but it’s just a pity he won’t be at Hove to stake a more meaningful Test claim – in English conditions and, unlike South Africa, with a Duke ball in use.
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