T20 World Cup 2022: David Warner captaincy ban | The moment that proves he hasn’t changed
OPINION: David Warner has multiple admirable qualities as an athlete - but on-field statesmanship isn’t one of them, writes Will Swanton. And that’s why he should never captain again.
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Dave Warner came and went quicker than Liz Truss. He only faced six deliveries but still showed why the Australian captaincy should always be directed elsewhere.
He has multiple admirable qualities as an athlete but on-field statesmanship ain’t one of them. The way he snapped and snarled and told Trent Boult to get stuffed … you can’t do that when you’re national skipper.
The late and great Martin Crowe middled one, at the time, when he called Warner the most juvenile player in international cricket. It was true in 2015 and regardless of a more mature approach since Cricket Australia’s callous ban on the man, it’s still sort of true now.
The qualities that make him such a fierce and invaluable competitor also make him Truss by another name and occupation. Unsuited to the top job.
It was after Warner screamed at Indian Rohit Sharma to “speak English” that Crowe took the long handle via his laptop and a column for ESPN.
“As Ian Chappell has said often recently, that soon enough someone will get king-hit on a cricket field,” Crowe wrote. “Warner may just be the one who gets pinned by someone in retaliation. And if it is him who gets hammered, it will be overdue, if wrong. No one, let alone an umpire, who has enough on his plate in the international game, wants to have to reprimand or babysit a bunch of boorish, childish adults during play for these ugly spats that are becoming commonplace. But they need to. Before things escalate the ICC needs to arm the officials with everything possible to stop the idiots who are ruining our enjoyment of the game. My concern in the immediate future will be that Warner will be in the centre of an ugly on-field fight during the upcoming World Cup.”
Biff wasn’t forthcoming but it was quite the column. Amazing to think that Crowe passed away in 2016 and so he didn’t even see the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal. “Watching from the luxury of my couch and after hearing numerous accounts from respected cricket people, there is a growing concern that David Warner’s thuggish behaviour has gone too far,” Crowe wrote. “Soon one day it will lead to an incident that will sully the game for good. Warner can play, but he is the most juvenile cricketer I have seen on a cricket field. I don’t care how good he is: if he continues to show all those watching that he doesn’t care, he must be removed, either by Cricket Australia or definitely by the world governing body. The more he gets away with it, the more others will follow his pitiful actions. Already we see one or two of his teammates enjoying being close to his hideous energy.”
Was Crowe right? Was Sandpapergate “the incident” destined to “sully the game for good,” caused by players believing they could get away with murder if they shoved it down their undies?
Certain dramas, discontentments and discombobulations from Warner have been well-documented. Others he may take to his grave. He was shafted by Cricket Australia’s lifetime leadership ban after Cape Town – it should have been a couple of years – but even when his suspension is lifted sometime soon, he should be spared the captaincy. The leader has to be the voice of reason, not the one telling the other mob to get nicked.
Warner is 35. For how much longer will he play? As Bob Dylan sang, it’s not dark yet, but it’s gettin’ there. He first burst onto the scene by hitting Dale Steyn out of the park in an unforgettable international T20 debut in 2009. From that moment on he’s been a cricketing version of Jeff Fenech, another Marrickville Mauler, another ferocious bantamweight you’d always want atop the order and in your dressing room.
“Attack dog,” has been the most common description, and the description has always fit, because every cricket team wants a Warner in it. You just don’t want him as your captain.
When all is said and done, Warner doesn’t need to regret too much about, well, everything he’s said and done over the years. If you turn around now and ask him to be Australian captain when Pat Cummins is unavailable, the ridiculousness is that you’ll be hoping he doesn’t act like the real Dave Warner. Which makes the whole thing a nonsense. He’ll have to mind his Ps and Qs and all the stuff-youse. That will be to the detriment of the team and the man himself. A disaster waiting to happen.
Case in point was the innings from Warner at the SCG. It was only a minor moment because Warner was just being Warner. But if he did the exact thing as captain, there’d be drama.
After the Kiwis sang God Defend New Zealand, they set about defending 3-200. A swashbuckling opener from across the ditch had conjured the most entertaining performance by a Kiwi named Finn since Split Enz.
First ball, Warner was beaten all ends up by Boult. Soon enough, he nicked one straight down the gullet of second slip. Straight into the old bread basket, it went. Second slip couldn’t drop it if he tried … except there wasn’t a second slip and the ball skipped away for four.
Fluke. Warner responded by walking down the pitch and screaming (like a juvenile) at Boult. Attempts at lip-reading have failed but we know what he said, more or less. Something along the lines of get a dog up ya, probably with an F-bomb thrown in for good measure. Boult laughed because again, it was just Warner being Warner. Post-match commentary ignored it as par for the course. But again, if Warner was Australian captain when he let rip, that’d a whole new ball game. That would be representative of Australian cricket and not just himself. Not on.
“David‘s leadership within the group is fantastic,” says Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey and we should just leave it at that. Warner can be a leader within the group without being the leader of the group. Bailey has better things to worry about it. Steve Smith has to bat at number three in that World Cup side. There’s too many cowboys in the top order. Smith is wasted as a drinks waiter and farther down the track, who knows? Maybe he’s captaincy material?
BIZARRE TV CALL CRUELS AUSSIE VIEWERS
- By Ben Horne
While Australia and captain Aaron Finch are fighting for survival, most of the country will be fast asleep.
In a bizarre TV scheduling decision, Australia’s do-or-die clash against Sri Lanka on Tuesday night from Perth won’t start until 10pm on the east coast, meaning fans will have to stay up past 1.30am on a weeknight to see the finish.
The reason is admirable in that World Cup organisers have decided to prioritise local fans in Perth, because the three hour time difference means they couldn’t have it both ways with a crowd and large Australian TV audience.
To feed into prime time on the east coast, the match would have had to start at 4pm on a Tuesday afternoon in Perth which kills any chance of filling Optus Stadium with the kind of crowd the occasion deserves.
However, it is unusual for the Sydney and Melbourne television markets to be the casualty when it comes to scheduling decisions, and there’s little doubt Australia’s desperate mission to save its World Cup campaign would have rated gangbusters on Channel 9 and Fox Cricket if it was in a normal prime time slot.
The Australia-New Zealand game rated well on Saturday and was the fourth highest show on free to air television with Channel 9 attracting 441,000 metropolitan viewers. It was the highest rating Fox show with 245,000.
It’s unheard of for a match featuring Australia on Australian soil to fall outside day-time or prime time hours, but organisers gave Sydney the blockbuster timeslot of the Saturday night tournament opener and Melbourne next Friday’s huge Australia v England clash at the MCG.
Adelaide has also been given a Friday night Australian fixture against Afghanistan at the end of the group stages, leaving Brisbane and Perth with the weekday games in what is a tight schedule.
It would have been a massive blow for cricket in Western Australia after hosting nothing during Covid, to also be dudded with a Tuesday afternoon match in the World Cup and organisers have chosen to look after Perth fans.
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