David Warner retirement: Aussie opener reflects on passing, legacy of late teammate Phillip Hughes

David Warner will retire next week after 112 Tests for Australia – but he believes his mate, the late Phillip Hughes, was destined to be just as good, if not better.

David Warner will bow out of Test cricket adamant the late Phillip Hughes was destined to finish a great of the game who would still be opening the batting for Australia today.

It is nearly a decade since Hughes was tragically felled at the Sydney Cricket Ground surrounded by teammates, including Warner, and his profound impact on them and the game has not been forgotten.

Warner is rightfully being hailed as a Test icon ahead of his 112th and final Test at home in Sydney, but during an exhaustive and at times emotional farewell press conference, the superstar opener paid tribute to another swashbuckling left-handed New South Welshman who was taken too soon.

David Warner and Phillip Hughes batting together at the SCG. Picture: Gregg Porteous

“For us, being here when he fell that day was quite sad and terrible. Still today, it hits us hard,” Warner said.

“I’ve always seen him at the other end.

“All the boys know he’s looking down upon us.

“It’s still hard to talk about today because I think he was going to be one of our greatest opening batters ever.

“He had every shot in the book. His character, his energy and his smile lit up the room.

“Best mates with everyone, no one would ever say a bad word about him.

“I truly, truly believe today, if he was still with us, he’d be in my position or Uzzie’s position.”

One of the greatest – if not the greatest – of Warner’s 26 Test centuries was certainly his hundred at Adelaide Oval in the days’ following the Hughes’ tragedy.

Australia's David Warner kisses the turf in the spot where Phillip Hughes was felled as he reaches 63 during his innings on Day 1 of 4th Test Australia v India at the SCG. Picture: Phil Hillyard

It may not rank as highly on traditional cricket metrics as his hundred in a session at the SCG or his triple century in Adelaide, but Warner’s ton in memory of Hughes was as gutsy as it gets in Test cricket.

Too traumatised to face any bowling in the nets that week, Warner somehow lifted himself along with Steve Smith and Michael Clarke to honour Hughes with a truly special innings which was all heart and emotion.

When he goes out to bat for the last time in Sydney this week, it’s fitting Warner will walk past Hughes’ face, immortalised in a plaque outside the SCG dressing room.

Warner, like Hughes, was a born-entertainer and now for the first time since his debut in 2011, Australian Test cricket is pondering how it will replace a once-in-a-generation talent.

Selectors won’t be able to replace him with just one man across Test and one-day cricket, because there is no one who can bat with the fearless aggression which defines arguably the greatest all-format star in the history of the game.

There is also another reason why there may only ever be one David Warner.

The changing face of cricket makes it increasingly unlikely another talent like Warner would prioritise playing 100 matches of Test cricket over everything else when the temptations of T20 riches are so readily available to them.

David Warner (L) and Phillip Hughes look on during NSW net practice early in their careers.

“It’s easy for me to sit here and talk about playing for your country at Test level. Fortunately in my development, I didn’t have that (T20 riches) there so I didn’t have to make that decision.

“For me, it was always about playing Test cricket for Australia.

“We’re well renumerated as well with the central contracts, and that’s the passion you have growing up to play red ball cricket for Australia.

“Today, with so many different opportunities and a lot of money at stake for younger guys coming through, it’s a tough decision to make … if you’re getting $100,000 thrown at you before you take a rookie contract.”

Warner refused to give his thoughts on who might replace him in Test and ODI cricket (after he retired from that format as well), but said Australian cricket was in good hands.

The 37-year-old accepts he’s been a polarising figure, but said he hopes he is remembered as a cricketer who always stayed true to his roots and bled for his country.

“Someone who has gone out there and just given it his all,” Warner said.

“I’ve said this all along. (I’m) a boy from housing commission having a dream. I’ve not always fitted the mould, but I’ve been authentic and honest and I’m still trying my best to get better even in this last Test.

“I’m hungry.”

Originally published as David Warner retirement: Aussie opener reflects on passing, legacy of late teammate Phillip Hughes