Before he was caught in the T20 World Cup semi-final off a ball he didn’t hit, the Australia opener proved his mettleIn the end, the story didn’t entirely deliver for David Warner. But in the end, it delivered enough. For what has felt like so long in the compressed world of short-course cricket, Australia’s opening bat has been out of form, out of runs, out of time, and eventually just out. The one thing he hasn’t been is out of patience. Warner’s reservoir of self-belief is profound enough to hide Loch Ness’s secrets. When he faces a struggle, he endures it until it passes. As he has creaked and stuttered after a couple of difficult stints in the IPL, he...
The man who legitimised T20 in his homeland has had a lean spell but has sprung to life in time for the World Cup knockoutsAs Australia qualified for the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals by chasing 158 against West Indies, the most important piece dropped into place with a click. David Warner is Australia’s defining T20 player, ever since rising to prominence with a pyrotechnic national debut back in 2009. His current captain, Aaron Finch, may edge him on career runs after 13 matches in the past year that Warner missed, but Warner has still played the most T20s for Australia. He more than anyone legitimised the format in Australia by crossing from it to become a Test success. All the...
Despite a stellar 2021, England captain will fly out this week knowing he must banish bad memories of past Australia toursAs anyone who has ever suffered from fear of flying knows, distraction is key. Anything to trick the brain into forgetting that you and it are hurtling through the ether in the cramped belly of a giant tin bird. Distraction. By any means possible.Booze might be the answer for some, the David Boon approach to air travel. Maybe you swear by that “make fists with your toes” thing or try to take your mind off the turbulence and terrifying sounds by strapping some headphones on and endlessly repeating the frightened flyers’ mantra about it being more likely you will perish...
Top two teams in Group 1 at World Cup have been narrowed decisively to the top one – and it most certainly isn’t AustraliaIf you wish for something hard enough, according to some self-help books based upon little more than the songwriting of Pinocchio, it just might come true. So went the script in the T20 World Cup, but the wrong way for Australia: a team relying on a Test configuration that was undone at the start by England’s Test‑style bowling.When facing them there is a range of T20 options to consider. The ripping leg spin of Adil Rashid, who opened proceedings in Dubai and bowled three dot balls in a first over that went for six runs. The left-arm...
The addition of Ben Stokes to England’s Ashes squad will lift Joe Root’s men and cause even the most confident of Australians to endure a few sleepless nightsHe’s back! The ginger-haired miracle-maker, the swaggering game-changer, the un-stoppered bottle of pungent cologne that promises the world with a single whiff. Yes, against all the odds, England will be drenched in eau de Ben Stokes during the Ashes this winter, and a little goes a very long way.Stokes has spent much of the summer bedding down, after stepping away from cricket to prioritise his mental health and to rest a left index finger that had been plaguing him since he broke it playing for the Rajasthan Royals in the first part of...