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Opinion
I don’t think it’s pushing the boat out too far to suggest that David Warner had an appalling time of it during the recent Ashes series.
He looked half the player we expect – and that’s being overly generous.
I mean, 95 runs in ten innings with two-thirds of those coming in one go? Thirteen boundaries in the entire series, the kind of tally usually racked in in half a day’s work?
And it’s perfectly warranted to say that Stuart Broad had his number to such an extent that the respective scorers probably had b Broad in their scorebooks before he even walked out to take guard.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
But when Australia line up to face Pakistan in the opening Test of the summer at The Gabba on November 21, Warner should be in his accustomed spot at the top of the order, facing the new ball.
I’ve seen comments suggesting otherwise and opinion hinting at a future without the New South Welshman but these are premature to say the least. They carry a bit too much of the knee-jerk about them.
As an interested observer, it is puzzling that there have been any noises to this effect.
By all means have one eye on what’s to come – it would be a selection panel neglecting their duties if they didn’t – but your team is in a very good place if you afford to discard a player such as Warner.
There is a time and place for the old to be ushered out and the new eased in but, in Warner’s case, the time isn’t now and the place isn’t Brisbane.
And Australia, for all their improvement over the past 18 months, simply haven’t a robust enough batting line-up to make such a significant change.
This isn’t a case of ditching Michael Slater and replacing him with Justin Langer when there are two Waugh brothers, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn in situ.
At the risk of stating the very obvious, Steve Smith was excellent in England and Marnus Labuschange performed an outstanding interview for a starring role this summer.
Matthew Wade might not be the long-term answer to any questions posed by the no.6 spot – that is a debate for another day – but did enough to warrant a longer run of it.
But the rest were occupying the very lower reaches of the ‘marks out of 10’ columns. Travis Head showed glimpses but ended up carrying the drinks, Usman Khawaja barely hinted at permanence at any stage and the duo of Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris scarcely mustered a run between them.
Admittedly, it wasn’t the easiest of times for those faced with opening as only five individual scores in excess of 50 across all five games, from both team, would attest, but if Harris and Bancroft are the next cabs off the rank I doubt the Pakistani pacemen will be quaking in their boots.
Will there be more pain for Dave Warner this summer? (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
And whereas the aforementioned duo haven’t got much in the way of a back catalogue to back up any arguments they may have, this is the one area where Warner should, at the very least, be given some leeway.
It could well be that the selectors are looking at alternatives such as Matthew Renshaw and Joe Burns, both of whom have shown they can cut the mustard at the top level, but if that is the case it should only be one who gets a game and that should be with Warner at the other end.
Just shy of 6,500 runs with 21 centuries are not the kind of statistics to be cast away lightly and while they don’t tell the entire story, there is more than enough there to merit some perseverance. Form is obviously, and has to be, a consideration and while far from sparkling in recent weeks, there has something to work with.
Yes it has primarily come in the shortest form of the game but such is the calendar these days it is a luxury if the spotlight can be focused solely on an individual competition and this is especially true for Warner who plays in all three formats.
And this would hardly be in the realms of taking a punt on a short-form specialist – think Jason Roy – who only has spasmodic long-form success behind him.
And finally, just take a quick look at his Test record on home soil. I’ll leave it there.