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'Never beaten, never dead': How Warner got his mojo back and set himself up for Ashes domination

11th November, 2021
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11th November, 2021
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After helping David Warner regain rhythm from afar, Trent Woodhill believes the veteran is poised to ride Australia’s T20 World Cup momentum into a strong Ashes series.

Woodhill, Warner’s long-time personal batting coach, sees the tournament in the UAE – where the dynamic opener is his country’s leading run-scorer heading into Friday morning’s (AEDT) semi-final against Pakistan – as a launching pad to dominate in the Test arena.

While it might seem counterproductive to focus on short-form cricket less than a month out from the first Test against England, the white-ball preparation could unlock Warner’s best.

It worked a treat for the 35-year-old heading into his golden 2019-20 home summer, though he also benefitted from some Sheffield Shield action.

“Davey came back from the Ashes [in the UK, 2019], where he had a horrible series, but then did well in the short-form games [287 runs in six T20s against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, only dismissed once],” Woodhill told The Roar.

“Then he went into the Tests feeling chest-out, ‘here we go’ – and he loaded up.”

Indeed, Warner pulverised Pakistan with two big Test centuries, including his epic 335 not out in Adelaide, before capping off the season down under with another ton against New Zealand.

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Like after the 2019 Ashes tour, some critics have recently queried whether Warner’s days of international cricket are numbered following a lean IPL campaign, during which he was benched by the Sunrisers, before a scratchy start to the T20 World Cup.

In typical Warner fashion, the combative left-hander seemed unbothered by the chatter and showed he is far from a spent force against the West Indies last weekend with a blazing 89 not out – his second fifty of the tournament – to propel Australia into the semi-finals.

It was a text from Woodhill a few weeks back, suggesting that he practise on synthetic and polished concrete surfaces instead of the worn-out UAE pitches, that hastened Warner’s resurgence.

“In Davey’s case, he’s not someone who needs to face a lot of bowling [in the nets],” said Woodhill, the former Melbourne Stars WBBL coach and BBL list manager.

“If he’s struggling for runs, I’d rather him bat on a surface that’s true. In the UAE, they’ve essentially played every game of cricket there for the last six months – the wickets aren’t great, they’re tired.

“So if you’re not feeling comfortable in your game – or in Davey’s case, he was feeling pretty good but just didn’t have the batting time – he was better off batting on a surface that’s true.

“That way, it’s going to fasten up his form; it’s going to quicken the pace he’s feeling good about himself. They’re such good ball-strikers – if you’re hitting a cricket ball well and repeating that, it’s a really good feeling.

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David Warner plays a switch-hit off Dwayne Bravo.

(Photo by Gareth Copley-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

“You’re better off doing that on a surface that’s going to allow you to do that … rather than batting on a shit-heap and then searching for your trigger movements – when do you release, when do you look to play?

“My advice to David’s always about trying to feel good and then when he goes out to bat – he’s such a competitor – if he’s feeling good in the nets then look out in the match.”

Woodhill, who has worked with the Australian team and is also a batting advisor to Steve Smith, was delighted to watch Warner firing.

“It’s just the grittiness, that fight,” Woodhill said.

“He’s a champion competitor – he’s never beaten, he’s never dead. I’ve always been in his corner because he’s always been in mine … But he’s had a tremendous career for his country.

“You wouldn’t swap him in T20 cricket for anyone in the world there for about a four, five-year period. I think Finchy [T20 captain Aaron Finch] said that as well.”

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Alongside Smith and Warner, all-rounder Mitch Marsh could return to Australia’s Test set-up on the strength of his impressive white-ball form.

“I think the Mitch Marsh push is a good one,” Woodhill said.

“There’s no reason why he can’t come into that Ashes and dominate from batting at six, just because he’s so confident at the moment.

“He’s been scoring runs and batting well for a good 12 months now. He’s one guy that I think that the World Cup and the tours beforehand showed that he could just fit straight back into that Test team, no problem at all.”

Mitchell Marsh of Australia bats

(Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

For Woodhill, who coaches batting with the ethos of “building defence through attack”, the difficulty of switching from a T20 to Test mindset on short notice can be “made too much of”.

“I think batting’s batting; it’s not like there’s a great change in terms of the length of the wicket or anything like that,” the former New Zealand assistant coach said.

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“I think if batters are feeling comfortable with their movements and the way they pick the ball up then they transition pretty quickly.

“If you don’t feel well in one format and you go to the other, it’s making sure you’re not jumping at shadows and trying to deconstruct your technique and create bigger problems that may not exist.

“Going from white to red [ball], it’s all just about keeping things really simple and repeating good things over and over again.

“You can’t replicate the time that you spend batting in Test cricket in the nets, so what you need to do is get up to speed very quickly with knowing where your off stump is and what your scoring areas are and then making sure you’re refining your defence.

“You’re not trying to coach two things or you’re not trying to practise two types of styles; it’s the one style that, if you like, expands in a white-ball format and then retracts in a red-ball format.”

And if Australia can take out the T20 World Cup for the first time – which Woodhill considers a real possibility, especially in the event they “win two tosses” – he believes the confidence of success will majorly boost the team’s Ashes chances.

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“They’re very much separate [T20 and Test] teams now, but the fact that both teams [England and Australia] have made semis, there’s a buoyant mood to them,” he said.

“Losing won’t do [Australia] any harm, but winning will add to it.

“I think that’s the best way to look at it.”

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