ANALYSIS
Follow UsIt is 2023, and David Warner is no longer a main character in Test cricket. Frankly, in the whites, he hasn’t been a main character for quite a while, but his relevance is currently at an all-time low.
Usually, even when Warner is in the midst of a stinking run, you’ll have commentators and experts raving about his aggression and his ability to ‘take the game away from the opposition’. But in the lead-up to both the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, the Warner hype was non-existent.
Indeed, he’d l̶i̶v̶e̶d̶ underperformed long enough to see himself become t̶h̶e̶ v̶i̶l̶l̶a̶i̶n̶ a non-topic.
Palpably, nearly everyone had given up on him as a Test cricketer, so much so that when he announced in May that he was planning to retire from Tests at the SCG in January, the widespread discussion was, ‘will he get there?’.
Five innings into the dreaded English summer, you reckon that Warner is almost certainly getting there. Three invaluable hands later, he’s now tantalizingly close to ensuring that he’ll be leaving the longest format on his own terms.
That an aggregate of 155 runs in 5 innings at an average of 31 is being hailed undoubtedly points to the depth to which Warner’s Test career has sunk. Peak Warner, or any other world-class opener for that matter, would have been chastised for similar returns and criticized for not ‘kicking on and capitalizing’ on starts.
Equally, though, context matters. Which is why when you take into consideration the conditions, the situation and the enormity of the occasion(s), what Warner has been able to produce so far has been mighty impressive.
Three weeks ago at The Oval, on the first day of the WTC final, Warner was tasked with batting on a green top in overcast conditions against Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
Last week at Edgbaston, he was first tasked with negotiating 15 minutes in fading light against Stuart Broad and a raucous Edgbaston crowd, and then, in the second innings, asked to give his side a platform to chase 281 in the fourth innings.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday at Lord’s, he was once again thrown to the wolves, asked to bat first on a perfect bowling day and on a spicy wicket with the floodlights on.
A month ago, no one would have backed Warner to conquer even one of these four incredibly challenging, arduous, nightmare-ish situations. The cricketing gods had written the ultimate script to end his Test career for good.
Astonishingly, though, Warner has ended up acing every single one of the aforementioned challenges.
This mini-resurgence is a huge win for Warner on a personal level, but though his contributions have been relatively small, they’ve had a huge bearing on the direction of the matches.
At the Oval, Warner saw off the new ball and batted till the 22nd over. He endured a soft dismissal and perished for 43, but the 108 minutes he spent at the crease — negating the threat of Shami and Siraj — was in itself a massive assist to Smith and Head, who shared a 285-run stand. It was a thankless contribution that played a significant role in shaping the contest.
The ‘20 unbeaten minutes’ towards the end of Day 1 at Edgbaston may not seem like a big deal, but those 13 balls went a long way in helping Warner bury the ghosts of 2019 with respect to Broad. For two overs, he batted with utmost authority against his nemesis — who’s had the better of him of late — and asserted his dominance. It was Broad who eventually got him the next morning — chopped on — but that innings, in many ways, planted the seeds for what was about to come in his next two knocks.
The 36 he racked up in Australia’s pursuit of 281 was goldust, as the 61-run opening stand gave the side the cushion it desperately needed.
And on Wednesday at Lord’s, though Smith and Head both eventually surpassed his run-tally, it was he who, just like the WTC final, was the architect of Australia’s dominance.
Warner rode his luck but evidently brought out the alpha-male side of his batting that’d completely disappeared in away games for years. The conditions were bowler-friendly, but it’s Warner who dictated the terms. Just like the good ol’ days.
Historically, Warner’s always been at his best when he’s managed to get his feet sorted. When they are in order, he times the ball exceptionally well, punching balls to the boundary through the off side by getting on top of the bounce.
So far in these three Tests, a change of batting guard has allowed him to find both his hands and his feet. We saw glimpses of the old Warner at The Oval and Edgbaston, but outside the Ollie Pope drop, his 66 on Wednesday was up there as the best he’s batted away from home (outside Asia) in a very long time.
In fact, the numbers too allude to the same: this 66 is indeed Warner’s highest score away from home (outside Asia) since the start of 2016, surpassing the 63 at St George's Park in South Africa.
Prior to the WTC Final, Warner said that he had the best net session of his career. Maybe we should have seen this turn in fortunes coming.
"I've felt in total control the last six to eight months with where my game is. I'm moving into the ball, my feet are moving, not just playing with my hands," he said at the end of Day 1.
"I felt like I was onto something special in the World Test Championship final. And then the last game, the same thing. I feel like everything I'm putting in the nets is actually coming out there in the middle.
"I'm excited by it, and I think if I can keep getting myself in and keep that momentum going with my feet, a big one could be around the corner."
Only time will tell if Warner’s intuition is right (again), but even without a century to his name, he’s already managed to throw a huge spanner in England’s works.
Warner was never supposed to be a problem for England. He was supposed to be an ‘easy wicket’. He was supposed to fold cheaply either to Broad or any right-armer bowling from ‘round the wicket'.
None of the above has ensued, and Warner’s runs have so far almost shell-shocked England, who have been left stunned by the ‘out of syllabus’ assignment.
The Bull may not be a main character now, but if he can somehow help Australia win the Ashes in England for the first time in 22 years, he’ll take to the field in the Tests against Pakistan later this year as the film’s main protagonist.
