What is a masterpiece by David Andrew Warner?
Do you consider only the most basic information --- the facts, figures, and statistics? Or do you assess it mostly based on its effect?
For nearly 13 years now, this 37-year-old has been able to have that unadulterated impact on cricket matches, teams, and fans. Warner is considered one of the best batsmen of this generation, and one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time across all three formats.
In fact, he was the first cricketer since 1877 to represent Australia without having played in a first-class match. Warner made his international debut for Australia in a Twenty20 International against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on January 11, 2009.
He made an immediate impact on debut, scoring 89 off 43 balls with seven boundaries and six sixes, including the then second-fastest fifty in Twenty20 International history. His 89 was the second highest score on Twenty20 international debut.
As a reward for his good showing in white-ball cricket (Big Bash and Indian Premier League), Warner was handed the Test Baggy Green within three years of making his white-ball debut on December 1, 2011 against New Zealand at Brisbane after regular opener Shane Watson picked up an injury.
That was the kind of special talent that Warner had for his national selectors. Though there were doubts over his technique, especially his ability to stay long in the middle, his stroke-making was evident to the entire world in the shortest format of cricket over the last three white-ball seasons.
And he cleared the doubts by scoring his maiden Test century against Australia’s fierce rivals, New Zealand.
Before taking the field against Pakistan in the three-Test series at Perth, Warner averaged 44.43 from 199 innings in 109 Tests. His total of 8786 runs puts him seventh on the all-time list of Australians.
He holds the record for being the second player after England’s Joe Root to score a double century in his 100th Test.
But the Perth Test threw a special challenge before him. Never in his last one-and-a-half-decade-old career has this Aussie veteran faced such hostility over his place in the team. And that too from his former teammate Mitchell Johnson, a fiery pacer of his time.
It was even harsher than in 2018, when he was forced to step down as vice captain of Australia for his role in the “Sandpapergate” ball tampering scandal in South Africa. Warner was subsequently banned from all formats of the game for a year before returning to Test circles for the Ashes series in 2019.
The Test of Time
Johnson, in his column, criticised Warner’s form over the last two years and his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal and asked the selectors not to give him a chance to retire on his own terms.
Johnson also faulted Warner for not fully accepting responsibility for his role in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.
And the left-handed speedster was not wrong in his criticism. He was obviously hinting at Warner’s red-ball form over the last two years. And not just Johnson; even Warner’s former opening partner for 29 Tests, Ed Cowan, also questioned his recent batting form.
Having gone 16 innings without a century, Warner passed 50 twice in that period --- at Lord’s and The Oval during the recent gripping Ashes series --- and averaged 22.81.
Looking further back, Warner has averaged 28.9 and scored just one century once in his last 44 innings.
Despite the good performance from Aussies in The Ashes, Warner hasn’t had much of happy outings. He only scored a single half-century and has, more often than not, handed his wicket to his nemesis Stuart Broad.
The English man has dismissed Warner an astounding 17 times. But despite all this, he is being backed heavily by the team management and his team-mates to go out there and rediscover his old self.
In a nutshell, the veteran Aussie opener was only certain to open the batting in Perth, but there was no guarantee of a hero’s send-off in his home city ground, SCG. At 37, Warner is not out of shape and is still among the fittest and most agile fielders.
So, Warner announced his retirement from the red-ball format even before the successful 50-over World Cup campaign in India. And with a big century in Perth on Day One of the first Test against Pakistan, Warner was assured of fulfilling his dreams of playing his last Test in front of his own crowd.
Dream Come True
On Thursday (Dec. 14), the seasoned opener decisively dispelled any misgivings, and his feelings were evident after hitting a century.
Warner vigorously reacted to Johnson's criticism by leaping into the air, holding his glove to his mouth, and pointing it in the direction of the stadium's media area.
Warner, with his 211-ball 164, once again displayed that he still possesses the greatest ability to lead Australia to victory in Test matches played at home by scoring a quick, precedent-setting century.
And the Pakistan team has always witnessed some of his special innings, not to forget that 335 were not out in Adelaide during the 2019 series. Overall, Warner has accumulated 1253 runs in the 10 Tests that he played against Pakistan.
In the 146-year history of Tests, only a few players like Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag, and Viv Richards have produced impactful innings like Warner as frequently.
For those who have an interest in personal records, Warner has gone past Richards and Sehwag on the all-time Test run charts with this innings in Perth.
With 8,786 runs in 112 Tests, he is presently the fifth-highest run scorer for Australia in Test cricket, surpassing both Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden during his innings.
Warner, who averages 59.58 in 56 matches, also became the third player in Australia’s Test team to reach 20 hundreds at home. His average is the highest among the five players from the country who have scored 5,000 or more Test runs in Australia, demonstrating his effectiveness in playing under familiar conditions.
His stats, however, drastically decline when he is not in Australia. For example, in 54 matches, his average abroad is just 32.87. Warner has toured nine countries, averaging less than 30 in five and reaching hundreds in three (Bangladesh, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates).
Despite being a “walking wicket” in his final two years of play, Warner never let his average drop below 40 at home. In 10 Test matches, he averaged 41.12 and amassed two hundred and fifty, including a double ton, but his away average dropped to 25.56.
Warner is the only touring opener who has played more than 10 Tests in England without scoring a single Test ton in the last decade. Additionally, he is the only player to have participated in more than five matches in India without scoring a century there. His 38 dismissals to Stuart Broad, Ravichandran Ashwin, and James Anderson have exacerbated his problems.
That, in no way, suggests that Warner was any less than a hero for his national squad. Isn’t it impressive that, despite Australia going through a transition, Warner was able to average around 60 at home without a consistent opening partner?
The Road Ahead
Warner, hot off a blistering 164 in the first knock, failed to open his account in the second. He fell to Khurram Shahzad while trying to lift him over the leg side, thus popping up an easy catch for Imam-ul-Haq at mid-wicket.
Now that the veteran opener has clarified that “he won’t take up a Cricket Australia contract if offered one next year”, an SCG farewell was a fitting farewell to this Aussie genius.
Did he deserve it? Really not that important. Also, his farewell speech will contain the final punch!
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