Broad’s father takes a whack at Warner after 17th dismissal

Save articles for later

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald has staunchly defended David Warner after the veteran opener’s poor record against England nemesis Stuart Broad became even uglier in the third Test at Headingly.

Warner (one) fell to Broad for the 17th time in his career, his second failure of this match. However, McDonald sprung to the defence of the 36-year-old, who has been an integral part of the Australian men’s Test side since 2011, but has struggled for consistent runs in the past 18 months, either side of a sparkling double century against South Africa at the MCG in his 100th match.

Stuart Broad claims David Warner’s wicket again, in the third Test at Headingley.Credit: Reuters

His twin failures at Headingley come as the performance of Australia’s star-studded batting engine room has been decidedly mixed despite the team’s early Ashes success.

Broad’s father, Chris, a former England cricketer who is now a match referee, added to the spice by tweeting a picture of Warner’s head transposed onto Bart Simpson’s body, writing over and over on a blackboard: “Stuart Broad has got me out again”.

While Usman Khawaja, with 356 runs at an average of 59, has been the foundation of Australia’s batting on a tour where he claimed he would struggle, Marnus Labuschagne, Warner and Steve Smith have performed below their best.

Warner fell to the seamer twice in seven balls at Headingley, caught in the slips in the third over of Australia’s second innings, having also being caught in the slips in the first over of the match on Thursday. Warner has faced seven balls off Broad in this Test, hit four runs and been out twice.

Both balls were good ones to dismiss Warner, but in 53 Test innings against the Englishman he has now been out to him 17 times. Only Michael Atherton’s 19 times out to Glenn McGrath and Arthur Morris’ 18 dismissals by Alec Bedser make for worse reading in Test history.

“When you have an opening bowler bowling to an opening batsman, they are more likely to get them out with a new ball at times,” McDonald said.

“I think the three 50-plus run opening partnerships that Usman and Dave have put on in the series have been telling and have had great impact.

“So not here to discuss David Warner at this stage.”

The left-hander’s record against Broad could eventually spell trouble for Warner’s dream of a Sydney farewell in January, having announced in June that he plans to retire from Test cricket at home this summer.

There are selection quandaries ahead should Cameron Green be fit to return from his hamstring injury for the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester starting in 10 days’ time, given Mitch Marsh’s magnificent century in the first innings.

While Warner in the second Test at Lord’s put on opening partnerships of 73 and 63 with Khawaja, with Warner scoring 66 in the first innings, it was just his second score above 50 in 20 innings, and he is yet to make the kind of big score that would lock him in long term.

Labuschagne has managed just one half-century in his last 16 innings. Both he and Warner are averaging just 24 for the series after three Tests.

It’s tough throwing Smith into that group given he was man of the match in the Lord’s win with scores of 108 and 34. However, despite this, he is averaging under 32, almost half his career average, for the series and his other four innings during the first and third Tests have brought a combined total of 46 runs.

Smith was particularly disappointing during the second day at Headingley on Friday, when he had one of the softest dismissals of his illustrious career during his 100th Test, flicking a ball from Moeen Ali straight to Ben Duckett at mid-wicket on two. England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow sent Smith off.

Bairstow was picked up on stump mic saying “See ya, Smudge” to Smith, who jackknifed around, gesticulating and yelling “What was that mate” before yelling “hey” to get Bairstow’s attention. Bairstow replied, “I said cheers, see ya later.”

McDonald said he didn’t see the exchange between Smith and Bairstow.

“In terms of the shot, it’s been a highly pressurised series and there have been errors on both side,” McDonald said. “That’s going to happen, the games have ebbed and flowed.”

The emotion from last Sunday at Lord’s, when Bairstow was stumped walking out of his crease thinking it was the end of an over, continues to linger.

With AAP

Watch every ball of the 2023 Ashes series live and exclusive on Channel 9 and 9Now.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

Most Viewed in Sport

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article