David Warner backed to bounce back from Ashes humiliation by Aaron Finch and Steve Smith

Aaron Finch believes David Warner’s horror Ashes won’t weigh on his mind when he returns to domestic duties in the Sheffield Shield. Not least because bogeyman Stuart Broad is nowhere in sight.

David Warner’s performance in the Ashes was the worst ever by an opener to play each Test of a five match series.

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Aaron Finch believes the absence of David Warner’s bogeyman will liberate the superstar opener from his form slump, as he gets back to the surrounds in which he’s always thrived.

England nemesis Stuart Broad tormented Warner during the Ashes, but Australia’s white ball captain Finch doesn’t expect any mental scars to remain in the lead-up to the first Test against Pakistan later next month.

Finch says his long-term ODI opening partner confided in him on nearly every day of the Ashes campaign, and was encouraged by Warner’s mindset, despite his run of low scores.

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Earlier this year, Finch was open in his admission that Indian bowling wonder Jasprit Bumrah had got inside his head – but against a different opponent in Pakistan on the eve of the World Cup, the Australian skipper rediscovered his groove.

David Warner finished his Ashes campaign with an average in single figures.

Warner averages 60 in Test matches on home soil with a phenomenal record of 15 hundreds, and Finch believes returning home will flick a similar switch inside the explosive left-hander.

“No I don’t think it’ll be that hard. I think he came up against an unbelievable bowler at the absolute top of his game,” Finch said, as Warner and NSW prepares to take on Queensland in Thursday’s Sheffield Shield opener at the Gabba.

“I know Davey, he tried a few different things. I was chatting to him every Test match really and he seemed to be in great spirits the whole time.

Stuart Broad was Warner’s chief tormentor, dominating the left-hander with the Dukes ball.

“I think at some point you have to tip your cap to being outplayed by someone and there’s no shame in that.

“You know as a player if you’ve prepared and done everything you possibly can to succeed in the middle you sleep a lot easier than when you go to bed knowing there’s a stone unturned that could have helped you out.”

Australian captain Tim Paine has already declared Warner a certainty for the first Test, while national selector Trevor Hohns said he also expected the opener to be a constant presence in baggy green this summer.

Aaron Finch is confident that Warner will be back in the runs in all formats this summer.

Thursday is huge for Queensland trio Matt Renshaw, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja - all in the race for Test spots if they can conquer Mitchell Starc and the Blues attack.

Victoria meanwhile will take on South Australia in Melbourne, and Finch hasn’t given up on a Test comeback despite being dropped last summer.

Finch failed as an opener, but still believes he could play Test cricket again as a middle-order batsman.

“If I was to force my way back into that side that’s most likely where it would be,” he said.

“Technical deficiencies got found out a bit against the new red ball.”

Despite his multiple failures Warner maintained a positive outlook throughout and beyond the Ashes.

Steve Smith joined Finch in defending Warner over the quality of bowler he was up against in England.

“Obviously Davey had a pretty tough time of it over in England. Opening the batting over there can be tough, particularly being a left-hander - Broad, Anderson, Archer, they all bowl very well to left-handers,” said Smith.

“But he’s obviously a quality player, we know that. He’s got an exceptional record in Australia and he’ll be looking to get some runs under his belt in the next few weeks and be good to go. I think he’s going OK.

“He’s played a lot of cricket now. He knows that you can go through those periods and come out the other side and he’ll be looking to spend some time in the middle over the next couple of Shield games … and just keep finding the groove. No doubt, he’ll be fine.”

Originally published as David Warner backed to bounce back from Ashes humiliation by Aaron Finch and Steve Smith