Warner quashes Oval retirement hearsay, eyes Ashes victory
David Warner has shut down rumours that he’ll retire from Test cricket after the fifth and last Test at The Oval as he prepares to face England for the ultimate time.
Speculation was fuelled in Australia when Michael Vaughan advised Fox Cricket that he had heard “whispers” through the Old Trafford Test that the ultimate Ashes encounter can be Warner’s final, fairly than him going by means of to the Pakistan collection and a Sydney farewell in early January that he had set out originally of this tour.
“No, not at all,” Warner stated at The Oval when requested if he had thought of making it his last Test. “I haven’t seen anything…I don’t have an announcement. For me it’s about trying to work hard in the nets as I did today and if selected, go out there and play and try and win an Ashes series.”
“I came here last time and it was a draw. Hopefully, we can go away with a series win and then that’ll be a fitting Ashes campaign for us and a fitting tour over here in England with the World Test Championship as well.”
In the identical feedback, Vaughan additionally raised the doable retirement of Steven Smith however, that too, was laughed off. “Obviously it’s a joke,” Warner stated. “I won’t take that too seriously.” When requested in latest months, 34-year-old Smith has dead-batted discuss of when he could shut out his worldwide profession.
Warner’s Test retirement plan remains to be a end at his house floor of the SCG in early January, though there does stay the query of whether or not the selectors may determine to begin afresh originally of the house summer season.
After failing twice in opposition to Stuart Broad at Headingley – to revive reminiscences of the final Ashes in England – he made a pair of begins at Old Trafford earlier than falling to Chris Woakes on each events. Warner has been pissed off to not convert into one thing extra substantial however believes he has performed his half in serving to Australia retain the Ashes at 2-1 up heading to the final match, sharing three half-century stands with Usman Khawaja within the two victories.
“I’ve probably left a few out there, but in saying that I’ve played a lot better than what I did last time,” he stated. “I’m looking to score. I’ve had a couple of unlucky dismissals and then been dismissed where I’ve tried to negate the swing or the seam and it’s caught the outside edge of the bat.
“So for me, I really feel like I’m in an excellent house, contributed properly, and as a batting unit, we’re all about partnerships. And I feel the partnerships that we have had in key moments of this collection to date have truly labored very properly for us as a crew.”
With one Test to go in England, Warner’s average in the country (including the final against India) stands at 25.60 from 18 matches and he has never made a hundred. His overall average away from home is 32.31 compared with 58.39 in Australia.
Warner came into this series promising a more attacking mindset than in 2019, when he felt that a lot of his problems came from looking to defend against the moving ball. Although he has only managed one half-century this time, he has been happy with his method.
“Look on the dismissal in opposition to Woakes within the first innings final Test. That one seams,” he said. “If it does not seam, it hits the center of the bat and that is what occurs on this sport. I’d have been disillusioned if I went ahead to that and simply tried to defend it. So that is how I’ve needed to play. I do really feel like I’m enjoying fairly decently.”