David Warner’s innings cut short but John Howard partnership has a long way to run

Nobody is watching the last few days of David Warner’s international cricket career more closely than former prime minister John Howard and his wife Janette.

David Warner acknowledges the applause as he walks off after being dismissed for 34 in the first innings of the third Test at the SCG on Thursday. Picture: Getty Images

Nobody is watching the last few days of David Warner’s international cricket career more closely than former prime minister John Howard and his wife Janette.

But then not many know of the curious relationship that has developed between the nation’s first cricket tragic and the cricketer’s family.

On the first day of the Sydney Test, as Pakistan’s tail batted on and on, Mrs Howard was anxious to know if they would see Warner bat before stumps.

On the second day, the pair were back again and watched every ball of his relatively uneventful innings. Warner trudged off, furious with himself, but his innings of 34 was nonetheless celebrated with warm applause.

On a day cut short by poor light and eventually rain, Australia finished 2-116, chasing Pakistan’s 313.

Few are aware, that the Howards and Warners have developed a relationship that goes beyond cricket and international boundaries. The two couples struck up a relationship overseas. They seek each other out at games and dine together, having first broken bread when the former prime minister and his wife were in ­England to watch the 2019 Ashes.

Mr Howard told The Australian that they message each other regularly and have plans to get together for dinner in the next few weeks now that both have a little bit more time on their hands.

Warner has previously nominated Mr Howard and the Dalai Lama as the two men he has most enjoyed meeting in his career.

“The Dalai Lama was quite cool,” Warner said in 2022. “One of my favourites is John Howard, he obviously led our country amazingly and he’s a great character.”

The former prime minister who backed Warner to play on last summer when all were calling for his head, sees something he likes in the 112-Test veteran.

“He is what I would call a genuine article,” Mr Howard said. “He means what he says and he does what he wants to. There is nothing artificial about him.

“He has been something of a modern cricket phenomenon because of the way he fast tracked into the Australian team.

“I can recall when he was first chosen for

Warner and former prime minister John Howard. Picture: Getty Images

the Test team and there was a lot of doubt about him.

“I happened to be at a dinner in India and Steve Waugh was at that and I asked him (about Warner) and he said ‘I think he will do well’ and I asked him why and he said because he has got a technique. I thought if Steve Waugh thinks he has got a good technique that’s a good start.”

Mr Howard said there was a bit of the “Aussie battler” about Warner. “But as a cricketer he has got an enormous amount of natural ability,” he added.

“You can’t keep batting at 150mph without having phenomenal hand-eye co-ordination. In the end that’s what successful batting is about. He has got it in spades. I can’t think of anyone else in recent years like that.

“I also like the fact that when people are writing him off he fights back. He came back with that great innings in the first Test in Perth which put beyond any argument that he has to play the whole series. There was a double century in Melbourne last year that I thought was terrific. That was at the time that everyone was saying he has been there too long and they ought to do this or that.”

Mr Howard, who too faced clamour of calls to step aside, late in his 11½-year prime ministership, says he is impressed by the way Warner got on with life after the sandpaper crisis.

“He has won over the mob,” the ex-prime minister said. “He will be missed.”

The other thing about the Warners that has made a deep impression on the Howards is their family values.

“He is a very hands-on and dedicated parent which is impressive,” Mr Howard said.

Mrs Howard nods in agreement, adding they are a “lovely family”.

Politics and cricket are uneasy bedfellows. Warner and his fellow conspirators were condemned by then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull for their role in the sandpaper affair, but more recently Anthony Albanese has revealed himself as a fan of the cricketer.

Warner has made a habit of fronting various PMs on issues of taxation and asked Mr Albanese at the player’s reception on new year’s day about the diesel tax.

“We might occasionally talk politics,” Mr Howard admitted.

“He certainly tells us his views,” Mrs Howard said.

“Oh yes, you always know where he stands,” Mr Howard added.