NEWS
Follow UsAustralia's Head Coach, Andrew McDonald, believes David Warner will be back to his best in red-ball cricket starting with the summit clash of the World Test Championship and the riveting Ashes series in June.
The southpaw has struggled in the longest format and scored 607 runs in 24 innings at an average of 26.39, with only two half-centuries and one hundred since 2022.
While he missed a couple of Tests against India in Australia's last series just before the Indian Premier League due to an elbow injury, McDonald backed his senior batter to feature in the playing XI for the all-important final.
"We're optimistic with what Dave's got left, we've picked him in the squad, and we feel he'll play a really big part in the Ashes and the World Test Championship," he said in a conversation with SEN.
"He's an important part of that squad, and if he wasn't, we would've had a clear checkpoint after the WTC going into the Ashes. That's not the case, we've picked our squad for the first two Ashes Tests as well, so he's clearly in our plans and ready to go, he further added.
The 36-year-old endured a dismal start to 2023 with a string of low scores and the performance of the Delhi Capitals in the ongoing IPL. However, McDonald stated the team management is sure about Warner's ability to bounce back from a challenging phase and get back to his scoring ways.
"He knows exactly where he sits with us. It's not as though he hasn't had success in those conditions, so we're backing him to draw on everything he's got."
"He's in a good head space. I spoke to him as recently as yesterday, and he's ready to go. He's really excited to get back into the camp," he concluded.
Australia will take on India in the final at the Oval from June 7, followed by a five-Test match Ashes series starting June 16 at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
