World Test Championship final: David Warner and Usman Khawaja’s failures an Ashes concern for Aussies

David Warner may not be his side’s biggest concern at the top of the order in the Ashes. DANIEL CHERNY looks at the worrying numbers while analysing where both of Australia’s openers are at.

Australia want some big opening partnerships during the Ashes. Will David Warner and Usman Khawaja be able to deliver? Picture: Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

Ricky Ponting was cornered in a media overflow room of The Oval’s JM Finn Stand. It was midway through the middle session of day three in the World Test Championship final, and Ponting was doing an informal 10-minute press conference in his role – and this is a man who wears many hats - as an ICC ambassador.

Inevitably, Ponting was asked about David Warner, his former Australian teammate and now captain of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals, where the legendary Ponting is coach. Ponting, commentating on the final, had already noted Warner’s unusual guard at the crease, so few were better placed to pass judgment on the opener’s form ahead of an Ashes series in which his involvement has for months seemed precarious.

David Warner was dismissed for one as Australia attempted to build an imposing lead at The Oval. Picture: Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

Ponting praised Warner’s first-innings 43 against India, noting that he had been unlucky to be removed to a catch down the leg side after batting through the hardest phase of the match and suggesting that Warner would have been disappointed not to turn his strong platform into a more sizeable total.

The long-time Australian captain then turned his attention to Warner’s second innings, which had just commenced.

“This innings here is a big one as well,” Ponting said.

“Not that he needs it, but a wicket that looks like it’s flattening out a little bit, and Indian bowling that’s starting to feel the pinch after no Test match cricket in a long time. If he could back his first innings up with a really good score here, he’s going to be fine.”

About two minutes after he said that, and as he was about to field a question about why Pat Cummins kept overstepping, Ponting was interrupted by a burst of noise from the stands.

Warner had nicked a seaming delivery from Mohammed Siraj and was gone for one.

Ponting’s “if” had become a moot point. The “if not” had prevailed, but there had been no clarity on that one.

Fascinating from Ricky Ponting, explaining a plan David Warner came up with two days ago at training.

Why Warner is "digging two holes", what it means for his footwork, and whether it'll affect other batters...#WTC23 | #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/R4XsTbE3Df

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) June 8, 2023

Had Warner cashed in and made a first-innings century, he would have essentially been undroppable at any stage of the Ashes. But a grand sum of 44 runs from two pre-Ashes gigs will provide limited credits in the bank should Stuart Broad and co. get hold of him at Edgbaston next week.

And yet for all that, Warner may not be Australia’s biggest 36-year-old concern at the top of the order. It is an awfully harsh view given how well he has played since his recall to the Test side early last year, but Usman Khawaja’s record in the UK is a worry.

While he outlasted Warner on Friday, Khawaja, on 13, played one outside off from Umesh Yadav that should have been left alone. It was another catch for Indian gloveman KS Bharat, and another cheap dismissal in England for Khawaja, who averages less than 18 in Test cricket on these shores, with just one half-century in 14 knocks.

And alarmingly, he keeps getting out the same way. Seven of his eight most recent dismissals in UK Tests have been caught behind. The other was caught at second slip.

Usman Khawaja and David Warner’s connection dates back to when they played together as seven year-olds in Sydney. Picture: Chris Hyde - CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Khawaja is an intelligent guy. He gets the lay of the land, and speaks plain truths. Indeed he spoke with such brutal honesty before jetting off on this tour that he forecast his own failures.

“England is, in my opinion, the toughest place in the world to bat for a top three batsman, plain and simple,” Khawaja said.

“If I’ve learned anything, it’s work hard, train hard. If you’re going to England, go with low expectations, and then just work on every game one at a time, because you are going to fail as a batsman. But when you do score, you try to cash in as much as you can.

“I feel like I’m a better player than I was 10 years ago.”

Khawaja’s point is backed up by statistics. Over the past decade, first and second wicket partnerships in Test cricket are lower only in Ireland and the West Indies than England. It is an empirically hard job being a top order players in these parts.

But even given the conditions, Australia has an opening problem in England. While a first-innings buffer meant the issue was less acute, Australia was 2-24 when Steve Smith arrived to join Marnus Labuschagne in what would be yet another consolidation job for the pair.

Only twice in 12 innings in England since the start of the 2019 Ashes have Australia put on more than 36 for the first two wickets. It is asking a lot of the rest of the batting line-up if this keeps happening.

Whether it is Warner, Khawaja, or either of spare openers Marcus Harris - who also averages less than 10 in English Tests - and Matthew Renshaw, Australia needs someone to stand up at the top.

Originally published as World Test Championship final: David Warner and Usman Khawaja’s failures an Ashes concern for Aussies