David Warner reflects on a tough childhood and how it moulded him into the champion he is

DAVID Warner reflects on a childhood of hard knocks, and how it moulded him into a man with the determination to succeed.

THE first cricket bat I ever owned was an SS Jumbo - and it only left the house on Saturdays.

Even then, aged 10 and living in our Housing Commission flat at Matraville, I knew my oldies barely had enough money to buy me that stick.

"And what happens if the handle breaks?" I would remind myself. Or, heaven forbid, somebody at school decides to pinch it?

Sure, we had a great little Gray Nicolls, the first bat I ever used, in our team kit.

But that SS, it was mine. And I knew if something went wrong, there was no way Mum and Dad could afford a replacement. News_Rich_Media: Glenn McGrath has accused England captain Alastair Cook of being too negative in his approach, suggesting his tactics have helped Australia to a 4-0 Ashes lead.

And so, each week, it was saved until game day. For everything else, like those matches around our townhouse, I'd whack away with one of those little green plastic bats someone had got from a Milo coaching clinic.

And that was fine.

Growing up in my family, you never got anything you didn't work for. When I was really little, I remember always asking to have this toy, or that treat. I got told "no" so often, eventually, I learned not to ask.

It wasn't that my parents, Howard and Lorraine, didn't work hard. They busted their backsides for me and older brother Steve. But you soon realised that, if you wanted something in life, fine ... go earn it.

And it's only in the past six months I've really started thinking back to those days. To that SS Jumbo. And why, because of it all, I'm here.News_Rich_Media: Brad Haddin is confident Australia will be able to head into the Sydney Test with the same side they've used for the Ashes series thus far, despite Shane Watson and Ryan Harris falling under an injury cloud.

I remember how, at 14, when pocket money started to become an issue, the old man shipped me off to pack shelves for Woolworths.

Sometimes I worked until three o'clock in the morning and then got back up at seven for school. Then on weekends, I'd deliver newspapers to earn enough for school camps or maybe a trip to the Easter Show. Every Christmas I prided myself on having a gift for Mum and Dad.

Looking back on all that now, I've started appreciating the huge divide between wanting something and actually achieving it - and the work required to fill it.

As a kid I always wanted to be someone, to make it. But for so long, I didn't really believe people could be inspired by a kid who grew up in Housing Commission with the one bat.

I guess, if you saw my kit bag strewn out in the SCG dressing room on Friday morning, it would all seem a bit funny. Each Test, I carry six Gray-Nicolls bats. I have another five or six strewn all over the place at home.News_Rich_Media: Former Australian paceman Glenn McGrath believes the fiery exchanges in this Ashes series have spurred on Australia to the brilliant performances that have seen them take a 4-0 series lead into the final Test in Sydney.

But when I went back to my parents' place this week, back to our little townhouse, I actually got a bit teary thinking about just how the joint has made me.

My mum, she has been an aged-care nurse for 30 years. And growing up, every day she made sure Steve and I earn our way. Just little things like vacuuming, walking the dog, sometimes making the dinner.

Dad, too, worked in a heavy machinery shop and nothing made me prouder last year than when I told him to retire. I've even saved enough to buy the pair of them a unit, fully paid for, which they move into in March.

And it's because, without them, I wouldn't have any of this.

As a kid, some of my team seemed to change gear every six months. But I had my bat and a message from Dad - don't break the bloody thing. Actually, I remember how the old boy never let me buy a Millichamp because my older brother Steve had one and the handle snapped. Dad certainly wasn't letting that happen twice.

So at 10 he bought me the SS and told me to be careful, to treat her like my mate, my baby.

Which I did. For two years. Right up until the handle snapped.