David Warner polarises opinion. His fear factor is redoubtable, but is he a player of top-shelf calibre or dependent on favourable conditions to devastate?
Virender Sehwag attracted similar conjecture over his standing in the game.
A doppelganger of Warner in style, the recently retired Indian opener also had remarkably similar career figures:
Virender Sehwag: 104 Tests, 8586 runs, average 49.34, strike rate 82.23, 23 centuries, 32 fifties.
Home average: 54.13.
Away average: 44.65.
David Warner: 46 Tests, 4241 runs, average 50.48, strike rate 75.75, 15 centuries and 19 fifties.
Home average: 59.48.
Away average: 40.07.
The standout is the home-and-away splits, particularly as you dig deeper into them.
The ‘flat-track bully’ moniker attached to Sehwag is justified, with 18 of his 23 centuries coming on Asian decks.
The same asterisk often preceedes Warner’s name because of his near 20-run average differential at home as opposed to away.
The context in the comparison is Warner having much of his career still to play. Can he achieve the completeness the great Indian somewhat lacked?
Warner is still very much a work in progress. The key part of this is the churlish nature of the early parts of his career, replaced by his new maturity. We saw this in spades in his unbeaten 123 on a bowling-favourable Hobart pitch against a high-class New Zealand attack in 2011.
That innings showed what he is capable of when his temperament is right.
Keep in mind Warner’s century strike rate of one every 5.83 innings sits him among the immortals of the game.
Compare these numbers:
Sir Donald Bradman, one century every 2.75 innings.
Herbert Sutcliffe, one century every 5.25 innings.
Sunil Gavaskar, one century every 6.14 innings.
Sir Garfield Sobers, one century every 6.15 innings.
Jacques Kallis, one century every 6.22 innings.
Sachin Tendulkar, one century every 6.45 innings.
Brian Lara, one century every 6.82 innings.
It makes you wonder, with Warner reaching the peak of his career in a refined mindset, what he might have in store for us.
Sedz
Guest
India is the International force in test cricket. Did you see WTC? Did ur team qualify even?
Nick
Guest
The criticisms of the latest India pitches have been 100% correct. India will never be an international force in the game again if they don't raise the standard of their pitches. It's as simple as that and it appears they don't want to address it. It's their loss
Nick
Guest
That measure would include most everyone. Sehwag was an old man from birth
Nick
Guest
Roads mean a pitch where there's zero movement for bowlers. I reckon Aussie pitches have become far more like roads in the last season or so since the English were there. Now there's no lightning fast/bouncy Perth or even the slow turner that Sydney would become. Pitches all over the world have become batsmans decks with the exclusion of India where it's just turn from ball one and become minefields over time
Nick
Guest
Steady on there chief. Let's compare once Warner has played a hundred tests
JGK
Roar Guru
Warner is an infinitely better fielder though.
Riccardo
Guest
Interesting Tim. Warner is a phenomenon and given he has really only come to grips with Test batting in the last couple of years may indeed eclipse Viru. Sehwag remains the superior cricketer for me though. His cricketing brain and handy spinning option for example. I would also argue that he faced better attacks than Warner does today and still fashioned a good career over three times as many Tests. But Davey is not done yet...
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Generally bouncy and road aren't considered the same thing. I certainly don't think the poms thought they were roads back in 2013-14!
yes man
Guest
I like how the author has conveniently omitted the breakdown of warner century list but readily quotes sehwags. Warner is the prototype of fast track bully. 14 of his 15 hundreds have come on fast pitches of south Africa and Australia. Hardly recognisable in asia ?? And one innings in UAE doesn't proove anything
Nick
Guest
I could do without all the runs I admit
Nick
Guest
Aussie pitches are roads mate, bouncy roads if we're lucky. Slow roads if we ain't
Andy
Guest
With an away average of 44 your defintion of a dead man walking is way different than mine. Especially as conditions when Sehwag was primarily doing his thing were less batter friendly than they are now.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Averages 90 in SA and 60 in the UAE -- one would suggest he's fine everywhere but India (and lets be honest, none of the Australians do well there and none of the Indians do well in Australia when the pitches play to their usual character and aren't rolled into roads).
JGK
Roar Guru
You say it like it's a bad thing.
Nick
Guest
I think we all know what he has in store for us: untold incidents of boorish behviour on and off the field, continued recorded evidence that he's one of the thickest men to play the game and a pile of runs. Complete package really
JGK
Roar Guru
As your innings per ton stats show (and it is even more borne out if you look at innings per 50) Warner is far more consistent than VIru who's average was flattered somewhat by a host of very large scores.
Tim
Guest
Agree, hence finishing the article with the last line
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
The past two years Warner has played 10 Tests in England, South Africa and the UAE and smashed 1200 runs at an average of 63. That is a sensational record. I think when you look at Warner's career record you have to note that it's only over the past two years that he's actually started to bat properly - actually get a grip on what works in Test cricket and rein himself in a bit instead of just slashing at everything. Since he's made that transition into a more mature batsmen his career has exploded and his record away from home has improved dramatically. So the "can only make runs in Australia" line peddled by a lot of people is seriously outdated. It's 2015 now, not 2012
Tim
Guest
In the initial article I sent in, I labelled Warner a 'fast track bully', but this has been edited out. I always have an inkling about Warner and completeness because of the glimpses he gives in conditions that shouldn't suit him. Even in the recent Ashes, he always was the greatest threat in English eyes. As for Sehwag, one always though ( or i did ) in foreign confines, he was, pretty much a dead man walkiing I think Warner's time is now, I labelled him as a 'work in progress' because of him lacking the first class grounding in the game as well as him being so immature
Andy
Guest
I dont see how you can say that Sehwags status as a flat track bully is justified without question but then question Warners similar status despite him being twice as much of a flat track bully? I think you are being really unfair on Sehwag. And at what point is a Warner no longer a work in progress? I would have thought having played 46 tests we have already seen the man and not much will change too dramatically.