‘Severely bruised’: David Warner under injury cloud after ‘nasty blow’

Australian opening batter David Warner is in “severe discomfort” after copping a “nasty blow” on day two of the Gabba Test match.

David Warner of Australia (L) walks off the field after he was dismissed. Photo by Dan PELED / AFP

Australian opener David Warner has not taken the field in England’s second innings at the Gabba due to “severely bruised ribs” he sustained during the first Ashes Test.

Warner scored 94 in Australia’s first innings before he was deceived by England seamer Ollie Robinson on Thursday afternoon, chipping a slower ball directly to mid-off.

He fell six runs short of becoming the third cricketer to score five Test centuries at the iconic Brisbane venue.

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However, Warner was not spotted on the field when England’s second innings got underway on Friday morning.

Cricket Australia revealed that the 35-year-old was off the field with bruised ribs, and West Australian seamer Jhye Richardson had replaced him as a substitute fielder.

Speaking on Fox Cricket, sideline reporter Kath Loughnan revealed the injury came after he was struck in the chest by a Ben Stokes delivery the previous day.

“Cricket Australia have just told me David Warner has severely bruised ribs,” she said.

“He had a scan overnight which cleared him of any fracture, but he still is in severe discomfort with badly bruised ribs.

“He may come on at some point this afternoon. They are just going to have to monitor him.

“This was after a nasty blow from Ben Stokes on day two.”

David Warner is off the field with bruised ribs. Jhye Richardson is the sub fielder. Warner was struck in the ribs off Ben Stokes's bowling while batting yesterday. #Ashes

— Andrew Wu (@wutube) December 10, 2021

David Warner is not on the field. Australia say his ribs aren’t broken but he is very sore.

— Peter Lalor (@plalor) December 10, 2021

Warner may not be required to bat again in the Gabba Test, but there is a short turnaround before the day-night fixture at Adelaide Oval, which gets underway on Thursday.

According to former Australian batter Michael Hussey, ribs are one of the most difficult injuries to play through.

“It is very painful and it hurts to cough, sneeze, laugh. It can take a long time to heal as well,” Hussey told Fox Cricket.

“I think mine was only minor bruising really and I was still feeling pain six weeks later.

“If it gets you in the wrong spot it can be quite debilitating.

“It will be interesting to see how David Warner pulls up from a blow in the ribs.”

Former Australian opener Simon Katich echoed Hussey’s remarks on Channel 7: “It impacts breathing and mobility and obviously you need that. They can linger for a while anything with the ribs.”

Australia’s David Warner departs for 94. Photo by Patrick HAMILTON / AFP

There were also injury concerns surrounding Australian seamer Josh Hazlewood, who did not bowl in the final 41 overs of day three.

Hazlewood has dismissed Joe Root on eight occasions in Test cricket, more than any other bowler in the game’s longest format, yet only bowled 11 deliveries at the England captain on Friday.

“He’s the perfect guy for any scenario,” New South Wales seamer Trent Copeland told Channel 7. “(To have bowled) eight overs from 65, it is very strange, and he needs to bowl now before the new ball comes around.”

Former Australian batter Matthew Hayden agreed: “You’ve got a world class bowler like Hazlewood, I think he’s been underbowled today – especially inside the first 20 overs of this innings.”

But after stumps, Australian teammate Marnus Labuschagne assured reporters the 30-year-old was “fine”.

“We’re just making sure we prepare really well,” he explained.

“We know that there’s some times at the Gabba where there’s not as many wickets that fall and we’ve just got to hold in that period and make sure we rotate our bowlers well so we’ve got someone fresh.”

England was 2/220 at stumps on day three, still trailing the Australians by 58 runs. Root is unbeaten on 86, with Dawid Malan 80 not out at the other end.

Play will resume at 10.30am AEDT on Saturday morning.