By Andrew Wu
When selectors Andrew McDonald and Tony Dodemaide convene in Manchester next week to pick Australia’s team for the fourth Test, they will ask a question they and no other selection panel before them has ever answered no to: do we drop David Warner?
Almost every great Australia Test batter has felt the cold blade of the selectors’ axe at least once in their career. Ricky Ponting lost his spot after six games. Steve Smith was dumped twice before he became, in many people’s eyes, the best since Don Bradman. Even Bradman was dropped, after his debut. Not so Warner, whose absences from the side since his debut have been due to injury or discipline.
Since the turn of the century, Australia’s best willow wielders have pre-empted selectors by retiring first. Mark Waugh, in 2002, would have to be the last champion batter to have been retired.
The numbers for Warner are damning. Since the start of last year, he is averaging 25.54 in 18 Tests, and only 14.75 in England since his return from the sandpaper affair. He has made four scores above 50 in 33 innings since the 2021 Boxing Day Test.
David Warner is struggling to keep his place in the Australian team.Credit: Getty
Warner, though, is backing himself in, showing every ounce of the unshakeable self-belief that has taken him from the housing commission flats in Matraville he grew up in to the top of world cricket. At a time when many are wondering if he will see out the series, he has his heart set on a fairytale farewell in the New Year in Sydney.
Test legend and former selector Greg Chappell put it succinctly as to why Warner is so hard to discard.
“I think with a champion – and I consider David a champion – you give a champion one game too many rather than one game too few,” Chappell said this week.
What Sets Warner Apart
It is easier to believe in someone who has soared Warner’s heights than a player, such as Marcus Harris or Matt Renshaw and before that Cameron Bancroft, whose Test career is yet to take full flight. Perhaps it’s better the devil you know than the one you don’t.
Only Matthew Hayden has scored more runs for Australia at the top of the order than Warner’s 8304. What sets Warner apart from legendary names such as Bill Ponsford, Bill Brown, Bill Lawry and, more recently, Justin Langer, Michael Slater and Mark Taylor, is the rate at which he scored.
He has defied the conventional expectation of a Test opener, who are typically dour, lacking the shots of their middle order contemporaries but play an important role in seeing off the new ball.
A hulk at the crease, Hayden was feared for his aggression and intimidatory batting, but his strike rate of 60 was well below Warner’s 70. Of the 72 men who have scored more than 6000 Test runs, only India’s Virender Sehwag scored at a quicker clip.
Chappell, who, as selector, championed Warner’s rapid rise in 2011 when he was better known as a Twenty20 slugger, was drawn to the left-hander’s strokeplay.
“In Test cricket you need to be able to move the game forward, to lead the game rather than follow it – and David has helped us do that,” Chappell said.
“He had a rare talent, good hand-eye coordination, courage, confidence, the ability to change a game, hit gaps, hit boundaries. They’re the sort of players I’ve always believed you need in teams.
“Your job as a batsman is to score runs. He was always looking to score runs. At different times you have to change your game, depending on the conditions and opposition. Anyone who bowls at that level is a good bowler, they will force you at times to defend. He wasn’t forced to defend that often.
“He was able to find the gaps. Going in early was good for him. The field was up, there were plenty of gaps. Even with defensive fields he could still find gaps. He could see how he could make runs. All great batsmen have that ability. They don’t focus on the problems, they see how they can make runs in any situation.”
Broad’s Bunny
The runs have dried for Warner, particularly against Stuart Broad, who has dismissed him 17 times. If Warner sees out the series, it’s not improbable that Broad could at least equal Glenn McGrath’s world record of 19 dismissals to Michael Atherton.
Warner has found no answer to Broad’s full-ish line just outside off stump from around the wicket, which is particularly effective on English pitches where the lower bounce prevents him from leaving the ball with confidence. Those that move off the seam are nicked and those that come back have trapped him in front.
In his prime, Warner’s technique, aided by his small stature – a commonality he shared with many other great batters - had allowed him to switch calmly from defence to attack.
“His weight transfer into the ball or leaving the ball was late,” Warner’s batting mentor Trent Woodhill said. “He was balanced, lower to the ground.
“He’s able to turn his left side to the ball to defend with a straight bat, and to let the ball go or attack either side of the wicket with the same sense of calm.
“He hasn’t been pressured and hampered, so technically he’s been able to defend, attack or leave balls where others have only got the option to defend or leave.
“With the exception of Stuart Broad, nobody has found a way to cope with David’s technique.”
Woodhill would not comment on Warner’s plans to Broad, but others have noted the veteran could attack his nemesis more, which could then force a change of plan from the bowler.
Well-travelled international coach Mickey Arthur, who has coached Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has a simpler strategy.
“Play him from the other end,” Arthur said.
Will selectors pick Warner?
With players of Warner’s record, there is no such thing as a like-for-like replacement. As modest as Warner’s recent record is, Renshaw and Harris, averaging 29 and 25 respectively after 14 Tests, are unproven.
Travis Head opened successfully in India but selectors said in March that was a horses for courses move. Furthermore, Head is a weapon at five and a move to the top could rob Peter and take from Paul.
Australian opener David Warner and coach and selector Andrew McDonald.Credit: Getty
That leaves Mitch Marsh and Cameron Green as the other options, neither of whom are recognised openers at first-class level though have experience in shorter formats.
Chappell regards Marsh as a better opening option than Green, who is a nervous starter.
“I think he’s got the personality that he would like to get out there and get on with it rather than hang around and wait,” Chappell said.
“It’s an option I would consider because I think that’s the sort of player you want. If you’re going to replace him, then you have to replace him with a like-minded player who takes the game on – that’s what Mitch does. He plays the new ball well.”
It is not uncommon for selectors to make left-field calls on Ashes tours that end up being successes. In 2001, Langer replaced Michael Slater as Matthew Hayden’s opening partner despite little experience in the position. Eight years later, Shane Watson answered the SOS call from selectors, who dropped the late Phillip Hughes.
Coach and selector McDonald, his predecessor Darren Lehmann and now Chappell have all referred to Warner’s role in opening stands at Edgbaston and Lord’s, in a pointer to his retention for the fourth Test.
“What are they looking for? If they’re looking for him to get a hundred before lunch, that’s probably not going to happen but if they think he can do a job they’ll be happy to get him out there,” Chappell said.
“There’s too many variables to say definitively but I wouldn’t discard him lightly.”
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