David Warner is a phenomenal cricketer. Few have hit the ball harder through their career and few have had the ability to turn themselves from being one of the first T20 artists into a Test player of such note that he has played more than 100 times in the baggy green.
Who remembers the look on Cameron White’s face when a young Warner was destroying the Saffers in his first T20 at the MCG? He picks up length quickly and has an eye that would not look out of place on any dead ocean creature. When he retires, he will have a record that will sit him comfortably with Australia’s great cricketers.
His story away from cricket is one to be admired as well. Growing up in an environment that was more hard-working than silver spoons and big TVs, Warner seems to have seen cricket as his way to a more affluent life and worked hard to get it.
He is a vibrant and admirably loyal family man who provides an environment for his girls which is so far from that which he knew at the same age that he deserves to feel a great deal of pride. He has done well. Very well.
It is a wonderful rags to riches story but he has missed his chance to make it an exceptional one.
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
As he came out of his year-long suspension, whether it was deserved or not, he had a chance to present himself in a different way, a chance to become the statesman Australian cricket needed rather than the pitbull that past regimes believed that he should be.
Coming back as someone who was seeking redemption and asking for forgiveness, he could have turned himself into a man who knew he had made a mistake and knew he owed the game rather than the opposite. When talking to the media he could have talked of respect for the game and the opponent.
He could have been the one who brought the new players along and spoke of growing the game because he knew how lucky he had been to be part of it.
As we all know he has gone the other way. Never really able to show the world that he had the capacity to see past his own and onto the bigger picture. His return has been littered with accusation, presumptive assumptions and needless finger-pointing at umpiring decisions.
Then, when he returned to form in a World Cup on flat wickets and stamp-sized grounds, his retort was that now everyone who doubted him looks stupid. Not really what Australian cricket was after.
Australian cricket has never really recovered from Sandpapergate, not really. It’s not the go-to sport of young Australians anymore, but it could be. It just needs a statesman, a talisman who can draw the public along with them. Someone who talks of the virtues of the game rather than bemoans its failings. Australian cricket needed someone whose name parents would want their children to wear on their backs, this was an opportunity missed.
Although all the statistics suggest that he shouldn’t get his way, the odds are with Warner getting his wish and retiring from red-ball cricket in the News Year’s Test. It will be a career that deserves a lot of applause from those who watched it.
However, it will surely also go down as not quite the career that it could have been.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Well I certainly won't be saying anything positive about you nuffie...
Cricnuff
Roar Rookie
And you've been a skidmark on this site for way too long but here you are. You've never had a positive thing to say about anyone. Embarrassing really
Wikipetia
Roar Rookie
Ignoring the first point really like the second para
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
You mean drop even further down the list? Quite possibly!
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
The cheers of the crowd said otherwise…
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
BP said: "That the best you got?" Nope. I said "rants". Plural. And now you've introduced a time limit. Anyhow, why are you so keen to excuse a mediocre Test player with the worst rap sheet of any Oz player in the history of the game?
Vamsi K
Roar Rookie
As an Indian I am not sure why people in Australia still feel that the sandpaper was all the doing of Warner alone. There is no way such a thing can happen without knowledge of team, especially bowlers and captain. From my observations over the years, I think the way Warner behaves when he dons the Aussie jersey is quite different from when he is playing in IPL. Australians always played aggressive cricket which blurred the lines between what is acceptable behavious and what isn't. Warner is that guy in the team who is more than willing to be a bully for his team. His very aggressive behaviour is peculiar to when he is playing for Australia. He was as competitive in IPL and even lead my franchise, SRH, to victory, but never displayed the sort of aggressive behaviour that he seems to display when he plays for Australia. So it might have to do with team culture and he willing to do the dirty work for the team when playing for Australia. With SRH in IPL, he was the most loved player. In fact fans showed their disgust to team management when they dropped Warner from the squad. Such is his appeal and closeness with the fanbase at SRH. So, he isn't entirely what he is made out to be and part of his behaviour can be because of the team culture in the Aussie dressing room.
Ben Pobjie
Expert
That the best you got? Getting in a Twitter fight ten years ago, throwing one punch, also ten years ago, and getting angry five years ago at a man who had insulted his wife? Like I said, not much evidence of him not being a good person.
Wikipetia
Roar Rookie
so Smith was a flog and then by your assessment a cheat as well. how does he stand?
boes
Roar Pro
He definitely could've carried himself in a different manner . Novak will never be as fondly remembered as Roger and Rafa...but if I ever want my son to learn how to field or run between wickets its Warner every day of the week. He got the most out of himself, after meeting Candace he took hid fitness to another level. He's adored in the biggest cricket market in the world and despite his tag of 'the bull' is very compassionate to those who have less the most in their upbringing. Ability wise - I still rate his dismantling of India for 180 odd in perth as one of the most destructive innings I have ever seen
Ouch
Roar Rookie
i like Warner and always have.
Ouch
Roar Rookie
Warner was exceptionally popular with his peers I noticed this at the T20 World Cup. I think it was a game against the West Indies - when Warner left the field he and the WI players were hugging, hi-fiving; laughing and having a good old time.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
I'm guessing the author meant across the 3 formats, Christo. If he was only referring to Test cricket, it would be a qualified good - great at home, but not so much overseas and not at all in England.
Wikipetia
Roar Rookie
Yes same in our family, I don’t think my dad detested him but he would always maintain that Lindwall was better. I guess that’s how it works. (Me, I cant put anyone above McGrath for enduring excellence in the most varied conditions). I’m probably McGrath Davo Thommo Miller for variety and allroundering. But there are multiple brilliant combinations Lillee was colour TV and pace after dibbles and the flair of WSC in the great years of stagflation and Fraser. Great bowler, too
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Ben, errr... Drunken late-night abusive Twitter rants, trying to punch Joe Root in a pub and trying to fight de Kok (?) in a stairwell. All "off the field" I believe.
Adsa
Roar Rookie
Interesting comment 'benchmarking across time' My Grandad detested Lillie and as a young aspiring cricketer I idolised him. Good comment, makes me worry though I will turn into my Grandad.
Ben Pobjie
Expert
I agree. Where the idea that Warner was never popular comes from I’ve no idea. Wishful thinking from those who dislike him I guess.
Ben Pobjie
Expert
Ive never seen much evidence of Warner not being a good person off the field. Most criticism of him pertains to what he does on the field. Off the field he seems a decent fellow, devoted husband and father.
Snert Underpant
Roar Rookie
One of the things that makes Australians so proud of our successful sports people on the global stage is that inevitably they have overcome the odds to achieve that success, coming from such a small country with a tiny population. So we are proud that our hard work has enabled us to beat the best in the world. We have always played hard, but fair. But using sandpaper on a cricket ball to many of us is no different to using performance enhancing drugs. It is a decision to play outside the rules in case your talent or hard work is not good enough to gain you victory. It doesn’t matter to me that lots of players in cricket did similar things and received lesser penalties. It simply says we have a higher moral standard, and I’m proud that we do. Like many, I disliked the way Warner carried on before South Africa. Add the word cheat to being a flog just cemented his legacy for me, regardless of his stats…
Wikipetia
Roar Rookie
You just handed them some more criticism that they can handle well.