David Warner explained to Brian Lara why he didn’t go for his world Test record over a round of golf
Brian Lara desperately wanted David Warner to break his world record Test score, so when their pair bumped into each other at the Australian Open pro-am the first question seemed obvious.
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Brian Lara finally got the chance to congratulate David Warner in person after his brilliant unbeaten triple century against Pakistan and get an answer to the question that’s been puzzling him all week.
Like a lot of cricket fans, Lara desperately wanted to see Warner break his world record Test score of 400 not out so was disappointed when the Aussies declared with Warner unbeaten on 335.
Warner has been unwavering in his support over Tim Paine’s decision to put the team first and chase the win so was happy to explain that to Lara when their pair bumped into each other at Wednesday’s Australian Open pro-am.
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“It was great to see him and we had a chat, and he straight away asked me why we didn’t go for it and I just gave him the same response,” Warner said.
“I said I knew exactly what the times were and there was plenty of (wet) weather about so I fully respect the captain’s decision.
“It was the best thing for the team because we knew we had to give ourselves time to bowl them out because the wicket was quite flat and it was all about winning that game for the championship stories.”
Lara wasn’t the only one offering his congratulations to Warner over his stunning knock and the opener admitted he’d been blown away by the response he had received.
It wasn’t that long ago that Warner would hardly show his face in public because of the abuse he was receiving over the ball tampering scandal but there’s been a marked change since his historic innings in Adelaide.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the way it’s been received. People have been stopping me in the street just to have a chat and say well done,” he said.
“I’ve had people tell me they watched every single ball and they were tired so wanted to know how I felt out there but I’m just so grateful to be able to contribute to the team and get that second chance to play again for Australia.”
Playing to a 10.7 handicap, Warner continued his fine form when he hit the course, finding the middle of the fairway almost as often as he found the middle of the bat last week.
The professional in his playing group, Josh Younger, was impressed. A cricket fan, he just won the NSW Open last week at the same time Warner was racking up his triple ton.
“I’m a massive cricket fans so it’s unbelievable for me to be walking the fairways with a superstar like him,” Younger said.
“He loves his golf and he’s been so approachable and he’s been hitting the ball really well too,”
Originally published as David Warner explained to Brian Lara why he didn’t go for his world Test record over a round of golf