David Warner volunteered to face Barmy Army at Edgbaston

Revelations in the wake of the first Test prove David Warner is more prone to self sacrifice than many would believe.

David Warner plays along with the crowd after they asked him what was in his pockets. Picture: Getty Images

There has never been any doubt about David Warner’s ability to take one for the team, but revelations in the wake of the first Test prove that he is a man of thick skin and one more prone to self sacrifice than many would believe.

The abuse from the Hollies Stand at Edgbaston during the game was relentless, occasionally ugly and mostly directed at Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft.

The Barmy Army would begin when the team bus arrived, continue it through the long day and then gather outside to send the side home with one last round.

Sandpaper was offered to be autographed, songs were sung about cheating and “crying on the telly”, masks that depicted the players captured at the height of their public anguish were worn and even wives were slandered.

Smith, Warner and Bancroft formed the slips cordon early in the game with the last of them moving into a close fielding position when conditions ease. Warner can sometimes take up a position in front of the batsman, but rarely roams the boundary.

When he did chase a ball in that direction the sound was deafening.

So, it was more than passingly curious when Warner was seen fielding on the ropes in the second innings. The reaction was remarkable. The jeering and baiting was as loud and angry as a low-flying fighter plane.

Warner seemed completely unflustered. Smiling, waving and even emptying out his pockets when they demanded to see what was in them.

Fortunately he did not do the same when they asked what he had in his undies.

It now turns out that Warner volunteered to field there, with Tim Paine saying the selfless act was part of the side’s plans to harness the energy of the infamous crowd.

“David Warner, Steve and Cameron Bancroft handled it superbly,” Paine wrote in his column for The Australian. “They were the ones copping the brunt of it. I had the first two at first and second slip and they were taking it in good spirits the whole time.

“At one point Davey said to me ‘put me in front of them for an over and lets see how loud it gets’. We wanted to take the whole place on, not just the England team but the famous atmosphere at the ground too, so he went out there and met it head on.

“Those three embraced the aggression and turned it into a positive thing for the whole side.”

Paine says the side didn’t mind the crowd’s taunting and praised the Barmy Army for the atmosphere they bring to the ground but said some of the abuse outside the ground went too far.

Lord’s will be quieter as the MCC will not sell blocks of tickets to the supporter group and its members are renowned for their more genteel approach to the sport. There have, however, been incidents at the hallowed ground with Australian captain Ricky Ponting booed there on occasion.

Warner’s ability to handle the aggression of bowlers or crowds has rarely been questioned.

Mitchell Johnson’s poor performance in the 2009 Ashes was exacerbated by the Barmy Army’s abuse of his wife and mother during the series. The bowler admits it got to him, but after seeking advice and gaining in confidence, he returned in 2015 with a new approach which worked.

Like Warner, he decided to draw attention to himself as an act of self sacrifice. Johnson made a game of it, smiling and waving to the crowd and even once stopping in the middle of his run up to rile them further.

“I definitely feel like I can take the brunt of it and I take the focus away from the other guys so I’ve really embraced that role,” he said.

Of course Australian cricket crowds have no claim to the moral high ground when it comes to abusive crowds. They established a reputation over some years for being offensive, occasionally racist and occasionally dangerous. Things have improved recently with more policing of the stands, but there were times when English players have been physically assaulted and others when they have had to take cover as items were hurled from the stands.