David Warner in plans for India tour … for now

Opening batter’s form not a worry for Australia’s hierarchy but his performances against South Africa may change that.

David Warner was bowled by Roston Chase during the second cricket Test against West Indies at Adelaide Oval Picture: AFP

The Australian team is backing David Warner to turn around recent modest form, insisting he is part of their plans for the Indian series and the World Test Championship.

Coach Andrew McDonald did indicate, however, that they would be monitoring him in the South African series.

The 36-year-old has not scored a hundred since January 2020 and is averaging around 30 since.

Warner, one of the most committed and valued members of the side, is poised to play his 100th Test at the MCG and has signalled that he does not plan to play Test cricket next summer.

Watch Australia v South Africa. Every test match live and ad-break in play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

A foundation stone at the top of the order and a dynamic presence in the field, he has been an essential part of Australian cricket since making his Test debut in December 2011.

He has been one of the first picked in any white ball side. His form remains strong in white ball cricket. Warner won player of the series in the successful 2021 T20 World Cup campaign and in both the T20 series against the West Indies and the ODI series against England this season.

McDonald insisted that there are no concerns about Warner’s inability to seize recent opportunities.

“Not at this stage,” he said. “His appetite for the work, in and around training is still there.

“He’s busy at the crease, and you’ve seen signs that he is going well.

‘He’s just found different ways to get out, and sometimes that can happen.

“He’s eager to continue on at this stage, he hasn’t hinted anything else.

“We are building towards a World Test Championship as well, and he wants to be part of that so that’s a clear focus for us and we’ve got South Africa as a part of that.

“And then on to India.

“At this stage, we’ve got him in our plans for India.

“We’ll see what happens in the next three Test matches, but at this stage he’s firmly in our thoughts for India.”

McDonald acknowledged that Warner’s average (24) in India was not high but said it needed to be put into context.

“There’s been some challenging conditions in India, I haven’t looked through all of those Test matches but I imagine there would have been some similar averages in amongst that from other batters as well,” he said.

“We’ve seen the more times you tour certain areas of the world, the better you get at it.

“But it’s also the knowledge that he can pass on to the younger players in and amongst that.

“We really value our senior players, both on and off the field in terms of that education process, even when they’re out there in amongst the heat of the battle.

“So there’s huge benefit for those players to be touring those areas, and albeit if they don’t play they can still have an impact.”

Phillip Hughes was the first of 13 different players who have appeared at the other end to open the batting with the veteran.

Warner, who has three young girls, is a committed family man and recently walked away from an appeals process aimed at lifting his lifetime leadership ban, saying he said he was not willing to subject them to any more controversy.

Just days later his wife Candice was abused by a fan at Adelaide Oval while she walked with two of the children to meet their father. Cricket Australia has offered to provide her with security after she said cricket no longer felt safe for her family.

Warner is renowned for his ability to block out distractions in a game and McDonald said he had not shown any sense of being otherwise occupied during this series.

“He’s great at compartmentalising, separating the off-field from the on-field and I think most of the great champions do that very well,” he said.

“I sense this situation is not different.

“We respect and understand David’s decision to withdraw from that appeals process.

‘He’s moved forward, we’re moving forward as a team and we’ve got a seriously good opponent confronting us at the Gabba so our focus is firmly on that.

“And so is David’s.”

The coach backed up players assertions that the dressing room is oblivious to extraneous noise at a time when they have been subject to bleating and attack from the noisy band of culture war warriors.

The Warner appeal also lead to a reignition of the controversy surrounding the sandpaper scandal.

“We’re not sure what’s happening inside the walls of the South African dressing room, but within the walls of our dressing room, you wouldn’t notice any distractions,” said McDonald.

“This week, we move forward.

“People are critiquing that we need to address things on the inside – we’ve moved on from that and you wouldn’t notice the noise that’s on the outside.

“That’s definitely not on the inside, if that makes sense.

“We’ve moved on.”