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Opinion

Australia must be prepared to drop David Warner

Roar Rookie
28th October, 2021
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Roar Rookie
28th October, 2021
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Who will partner David Warner? With an Ashes series on the horizon, this is the question that Australia is most struggling to definitively answer.

Sure, there are debates on who should bat at five or six, but it will be a top effort for anyone to push for those roles, with Travis Head and Cameron Green respectively penciled in with no one in particular looking to break in.

However, there are a number of names being thrown around in contention to open for their country. There’s Bryce Street, an old-fashioned lefty from Queensland who has batted long and hard in the Sheffield Shield over the last two years, highlighted by four centuries and a patient 46 in the Shield final.

There’s Will Pucovski, a classy Victorian who made his Test debut earlier this year and, at the ripe age of 23, has already been in the Test discussion for years but has been held back from the big time due to injuries, mental health issues and a long string of concussions, the latest of which was sustained just this month.

There’s Usman Khawaja, Australia’s previous long-time number three who averages 96.8 as a Test opener and recently brought up his second consecutive century for Queensland, albeit batting at number four.

There’s Marcus Harris, who began his Test career in Warner’s absence due to suspension and has opened alongside Warner on a few occasions since to not much success.

And there’s Joe Burns and Cameron Bancroft, who have previously partnered Warner over the course of entire series but failed to prove themselves of any indisputable worth on the big stage.

David Warner.

David Warner has had a tough time of it since his comeback. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

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Of these options, Pucovski is considered the frontrunner, having impressed with back-to-back double centuries in his brief Sheffield Shield stint last year before a shoulder injury sustained in his Test debut kept him from playing in the latter half of the tournament.

He has since undergone surgery and returned to the nets but his ongoing struggle with concussion has seen him not picked for Victoria’s season opener against New South Wales and led to his ability to play the short ball being questioned.

So it’s obvious that whether or not Pucovski is picked for the first Test, he will need an injury cover. So who will that be? That remains undecided for now.

Logically, with all six states finally in action in Australia’s domestic circuit, each contending opener will put their best foot forward in the Sheffield Shield and hope to be noticed by selectors. Plus, there will be tour matches, where an Australia ‘A’ team will be put together to face the England Lions, a team of miss-outs from England’s main Test squad.

A century in a tour match has been a number of Australia’s recent Test debutants’ rite of passage into the team, and could well be the decider in determining who faces up to the likes of Broad, Anderson, Wood or Robinson on Day 1 at the Gabba.

But while previous and upcoming players alike are fighting for selection, Warner seemingly has his spot in the team served to him on a plate.

Where is the merit in that? A handful of fine, well-established batters are piling on runs at domestic level, fighting each other for a chance to represent their country, while a veteran past his prime sits back and waits to see his name on the team sheet.

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Surely, it’s only fair that Warner goes back to playing for New South Wales and doesn’t return to the Test line-up until he can prove himself in the Shield, while others who have red ball form under their belt are given a go at the highest level.

But there is a bigger picture. In his decade long Test career, Warner has opened with more partners than he count on his fingers, assuming he can count. His best companion has arguably been Chris Rogers, who was 35 when the pair first opened together in 2013.

Since Rogers’ retirement from Test cricket in 2015, Warner has been paired with the aforementioned Burns, Bancroft and Harris – as well as Matt Renshaw, who is just 25 years old but has reinvented himself as a middle-order batter and doesn’t look to be returning to Australia’s top order anytime soon – none of whom have consistently troubled opposition bowling attacks.

Neither Bancroft or Harris has a Test century, while Warner has 24. In the midst of a tough era for openers around the world, Warner has remained Australia’s first-choice opener for a decade.

As for not playing first-class cricket, Warner has always been “too good” for the Sheffield Shield. Nearly 75 per cent of his first-class runs have come at Test level. He made his international debut before his first-class debut.

He scored just 95 runs across 10 innings in the last Ashes series, his return series after suspension following the infamous ball tampering scandal.

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Somehow, he resisted the axe, and furthermore went on to score back-to-back centuries in his first two innings back home, the latter of which being the second highest Test score by an Australian ever.

But while he possesses this legacy, if there was ever a time to not be complacent with letting him prove himself at the highest level, it’s right now.

In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which concluded in January and still remains to be Australia’s most recent Test series, Warner missed the first two Tests due to a groin injury sustained in the ODI series preceding and, upon returning to the Test line-up, failed to impress, scoring just 67 runs across four innings.

Before leaving for India to play in the IPL, he briefly returned to play for New South Wales. He impressed in the Marsh One-Day Cup, scoring a century on top of a trademark Warner innings of 87 of 74 balls. He made a Sheffield Shield appearance against South Australia, posting scores of 24 and 69 at a relatively high strike rate.

While these are not bad scores, consider that this is the best that he has had to offer over the last twelve months and put it in perspective.

Warner’s last first class century came in a Test match against New Zealand at the SCG, early in 2020. Since then, Bryce Street has hit four. Joe Burns has scored two. Usman Khawaja has two on the trot.

David Warner

David Warner of Australia (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

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Marcus Harris scored three for Leicestershire in the recent County Championship in England, not to mention his 239 for Victoria, which was he brought up against South Australia only a year ago.

Warner’s record at international level may give him the edge, but he has never been held accountable for poor performance when it comes to Test selection. While scores of 13 and 16 at Lord’s saw Bancroft dropped for the third Ashes Test in 2019, scores of 2, 8, 3 and 5 across the first two Tests were not enough to convince selectors to look past Warner.

He then managed a pair at Old Trafford, with Australia retaining the Ashes in that match despite him, and was still retained for the final Test, which Australia lost, further denying them a long-awaited Ashes series win away from home. Yet, when the home summer rolled around, guess who was still first picked at the top of the order?

Perhaps naming Warner for the first Test at the Gabba is the right move to make, but if his failure continues, Australia must be prepared to drop him mid-series.

Maybe others won’t do any better. Maybe they lack the Test record Warner possesses. But if Australia goes 0-1 or 0-2 down in the series, they cannot be leaning on a 34-year-old who has done nothing of recent to earn his place in the team.

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