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Opinion
Batters rarely get better after they turn 35 and David Warner is the latest example of an Australian great who refuses to believe they can’t rediscover their best form when all signs suggest otherwise.
Warner’s dismissal for 28 in the second innings of the second Test against the West Indies means his century drought now stretches to 25 innings from his past 14 Tests in which he has averaged just 28.12.
It was an innocuous delivery from off-spinner Roston Chase, the first of his spell, which Warner tried to drive through covers but inside-edged onto his stumps for the second time in four innings this series.
Warner is super fit for a player of any age, let alone a 36-year-old veteran who has been on the international circuit for more than a decade, but the feet just don’t seem to be moving as nimbly as they once did at the crease.
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If you isolate his numbers to the 12 matches since his 35th birthday, he’s averaging 30.4 in scoring 608 runs, well down on his career mark of 46.04 from his 7919 runs in 98 Tests.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Put simply, the reflexes start slowing down as a cricketer enters the latter half of their 30s and the runs start drying up.
Matthew Hayden on Seven commentary was asked on Saturday night whether Warner could bounce back for the three-match series against South Africa which starts next week.
Despite being one of Australia’s all-time great batters, Hayden is perhaps not the best person to give an objective assessment on this subject because he had the same belligerent mindset in the latter stages of his career when his form tailed off amid calls for opening prodigy Phillip Hughes to replace him in the Test team.
“Davey Warner, he is an absolute champion who’s almost scored 8000 runs and he’s just lost that little bit of intent at this stage,” he said.
“He hasn’t got the runs but he will fight until he can no longer bleed. That’s his make-up, that’s his DNA and we’re gonna need every bit of that come the Gabba Test match.”
In his last 19 Tests after his 35th birthday, Hayden averaged 40.59, more than 10 runs less than his career rate before retiring aged 37 in 2009.
Ricky Ponting. (James Knowler/Getty Images)
Ricky Ponting was another modern Australian batting legend who tailed off significantly after he turned 35. He finished his 168-Test career with an average of 51.85 but in his last 29 matches, he scored just three of his 41 centuries at a clip of just 37.19.
Ponting made the decision to retire midway through a home summer after being made to look old by South Africa’s quicks, not bothering to stick around for the next series against Sri Lanka.
He later admitted he played a couple of years too long.
Justin Langer was another who dipped after turning 35, averaging 39.58 and hitting a hundred just once in those 11 Tests, compared to 45.27 for his 105-Test career with 23 centuries in total.
Adam Gilchrist averaged a mortal 37.16, less than 10 runs per innings compared to his career mark, in the 11 Tests after he was 35.
The Waugh twins bucked the trend – Steve averaged 53.2 in his final 40 Tests as he played past his 38th birthday to be slightly higher than his overall 51.06 while Mark still produced at 42.23 per innings (above his career average of 41.81) in his 25 matches he played after they shared 35 candles.
Steve Waugh. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
West Australian Adam Voges is the ultimate anomaly. He did not play his first Test until he was 35 but managed to play 20 matches in the twilight of his professional career and peeled off five centuries to end up with an average of 61.87, which is still second-best of all time behind Sir Donald Bradman despite the best efforts recently of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to overtake him.
With Warner, the elephant in the room is his ongoing dispute with Cricket Australia over his leadership ban for ball-tampering which reached a flashpoint earlier this week when he accused the governing body of wanting to put him through a “public lynching” with the appeals process.
He’s dropped his challenge to the ban but if his form doesn’t improve dramatically, he could be the one getting dropped, particularly with monumental tours of India and England on the horizon, destinations where he has struggled on previous visits.
Warner is due to play his 100th Test in the second match of the South Africa series at the MCG but as we’ve seen with recent revelations in Faf du Plessis’ book, there is still plenty of animosity between the Proteas and the veteran opener due to the ill-tempered series of 2018.
The current team is unlikely to stoke the flames too much but don’t be surprised to see a few old South African players question Warner’s place in the side over the next few weeks. They’d like nothing more than to end his career by getting dropped in a losing series to their bitter enemies.
Time has almost run out for Warner and as we’ve seen repeatedly with some of the greatest batters of the modern era, once your time is up, the end can come very swiftly.
David Warner
Career: 98 Tests, 7919 runs, 24 centuries, 46.04 average, 71.23 strike rate
After turning 35: 12 Tests, 608 runs, 0 centuries, 30.4 average, 57.52 strike rate
Matthew Hayden
Career: 103 Tests, 8625 runs, 30 centuries, 50.73 average, 60.16 strike rate
After turning 35: 19 Tests, 1299 runs, 4 centuries, 40.59 average, 60.1 strike rate
Ricky Ponting
Career: 168 Tests, 13378 runs, 41 centuries, 51.85 average, 58.72 strike rate
After turning 35: 29 Tests, 1897 runs, 3 centuries, 37.19 average, 54.87 strike rate
Justin Langer
Career: 105 Tests, 7696 runs, 23 centuries, 45.27 average, 54.22 strike rate
After turning 35: 11 Tests, 673 runs, 1 century, 39.58 average, 57.71 strike rate
Adam Gilchrist
Career: 96 Tests, 5570 runs, 17 centuries, 47.6 average, 81.95 strike rate
After turning 35: 11 Tests, 446 runs, 1 centuries, 37.16 average, 86.43 strike rate
Mike Hussey
Career: 79 Tests, 6235 runs, 19 centuries, 51.52 average, 50.13 strike rate
After turning 35: 29 Tests, 2323 runs, 8 centuries, 50.5 average, 53.94 strike rate
Steve Waugh
Career: 168 Tests, 10927 runs, 32 centuries, 51.06 average, 48.64 strike rate
After turning 35: 40 Tests, 2554 runs, 10 centuries, 53.2 average, 51.81 strike rate
Mark Waugh
Career: 128 Tests, 8029 runs, 20 centuries, 41.81 average, 52.27 strike rate
After turning 35: 25 Tests, 1436 runs, 3 centuries, 42.23 average, 53.92 strike rate
Adam Voges
Career: 20 Tests, 1485 runs, 5 centuries, 61.87 average, 55.68 strike rate