David Warner leaving nothing to chance to get ready for comeback
BANNED batsman David Warner has turned to the same fitness guru who trains Winx’ jockey Hugh Bowman to get him in peak fitness for his international return.
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AUSTRALIAN cricket has never needed David Warner more than it does right now and the dashing opener is leaving nothing to chance to ensure he’s in peak condition the moment his ban expires.
There’s plenty of people who reckon the 12-month suspension he copped for his role in the ball tampering scandal was excessive but rather than sit around and mope, Warner’s been using every minute to get himself in to the best shape of his life.
His emotional 155 not out for Randwick Petersham in his return to grade cricket last month showed that the 31-year-old hasn’t lost his touch with the bat and now he’s joined forces with the same fitness guru who helped make Hugh Bowman the best jockey in the world to make him even better.
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While his Australian teammates have been falling to pieces in the current series against Pakistan, Warner has been secretly sweating it out in an eastern suburbs gym under the guidance of Trent Langlands, the same personal trainer Bowman uses to prepare himself to ride wonder mare Winx.
Their chosen sports could hardly be any different but the champion jockey and the explosive left-handed batsman have more in common than most think, with men both used to carrying the weight of a nation and both absolutely committed to the little one per-centers that separate them from the pack.
“Everything Dave does is very specific. There’s a real purpose behind his training,” Langlands said.
“There’s no doubt that he has a real purpose and drive to get back to where he was and that comes through in his training.”
Warner still spends most of his spare time in the nets honing his batting skills but the 31-year-old also does two high-intensity sessions each week with Langlands, working on his balance and core strength and anything he thinks will give him that extra edge to ensure Australia’s selectors have no choice but to rush him back in when his ban ends on March 29.
“Dave really wants to work on his responsiveness so he’s doing a lot of footwork drills as well as a lot of agility work,” Langlands said.
“He’s just getting his feet a lot faster and also doing a lot rotational work to give him more strength throughout his core.
“He just wants to build up gradually so we don’t have to go at it like a bull at a gate so is only just starting to ramp it up.”
The extra work Warner is doing will be music to the ears of all Australian cricket followers who have watched in dismay as the team has lurched from one batting catastrophe to the next and while his methods may seem unorthodox for a cricketer, Bowman’s stunning success on board Winx is proof that every little advantage helps.
“You can’t afford to have a poor lifestyle or poor nutrition or poor training or you’re really going to get left behind, no matter what sport you’re playing,” Langlands said.
“He came in with a really good base as he’d been doing a lot of track work before he got to me.
“So his condition is quite good so I think it’s going to be pretty easy for him to get back to the top of his game.”
WARNER TO PLAY T20 IN BANGLADESH
By Peter Lalor
AS calls grow to modify their bans from cricket, David Warner has followed Steve Smith’s lead and signed up for a foreign country’s domestic T20 league.
The opening batsman is expected to captain the Sylhet Sixers in the Bangladesh Premier League this January. The franchise put up footage of Warner on its Facebook page saying it would make an announcement soon.
Smith had already agreed to play for the Pakistan Super League which is scheduled across February and March.
Both are expected to earn over $300,000 for their time, but those close to the pair say it is frustration at not being able to play cricket at any competitive standard that has driven them offshore.
The two are playing club cricket in Sydney but have been training with the NSW Blues.
Warner and Smith will both be aiming to prove themselves in form ahead of next year’s ODI World Cup, but are banned from all first class and Big Bash League cricket in Australia until the end of March because of their role in the sandpaper scandal.
The pair both sat out last year’s IPL but are expected to participate in the tournament next April from which they earn around $2m each.
Shane Warne led the charge this week in calling the penalties too harsh and The Weekend Australian understands that the Australian Cricketers Association is also keen to find a way that the bans be reduced.
The players had hoped to modify their bans when the punishment was handed down but were told they would have to go through a full appeals process. Neither had the appetite for more conflict.
The growth of T20 leagues which clash with the BBL, including the Bangladesh tournament and another UAE based competition, are a concern for Australian cricket with established stars being offered more money for less matches.
South African captain Faf du Plessis spoke to the media in Perth as his side prepared for the one day series against Australia and said he did not think the sandpaper scandal would be an issue on the field.
The South African batsman, who himself was convicted of ball tampering during the team’s last tour of Australia, denied there was any bad blood between the teams.
“Not at all,” du Plessis claimed. “Like I said many times, we love playing against Australia. Two similar teams — very competitive matches. So absolutely no bad blood. No.”
Du Plessis says the South Africans will not be using the sandpaper scandal against the Australians in the matches.
“For us it’s business as usual. I don’t feel we’re a team that sledges that much,” he said. “We enjoy the game, we play competitive, and our body language is always competitive, but as far as verbals and what we say on the field, most of the time we’re not a team that goes there. Obviously the odd occasion someone will get frustrated and probably play something rom a frustration point of view.
But as a general, our team is pretty good with it.
“I don’t think us as a team would go there (sandpaper references). Similar to I suppose the
mint gate if you call it. Even when I played against a team, there was nothing like that. It’s got nothing to do with the cricket, it’s in the past.
“We’ll try to be competitive. And our body language will be very competitive. But in terms of what happened in Newlands, that’s in the past for us.”
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