David Warner has lost a bit of his reputation of being a gun opener but former Australia captain Mark Taylor has backed the left-handed batter to play in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against India at The Oval in June and to also feature in the initial stage of the Ashes 2023 in England.
“If I am reading the tea leaves right, it sounds like they will stick with David for the World Test Championship (final) at The Oval. And if that’s the way Australia are thinking about the World Test Championship, then yes, they have to start with him for the Ashes,” Taylor told AAP.
Warner has gone through a lean patch in Test cricket since the start of 2021, averaging below 39 and his returns have been ordinary, especially in the last two years.
Despite scoring a double century (200) in the Melbourne Test in December 2022 against South Africa — his only Test hundred since January 2020 — Warner averaged 30.05 in 11 games last year. In the three Test matches that he played this year, Warner has managed a mere 36 runs at 9.00.
Taylor, who led Australia in 50 Tests, also said that he would like to see right-handed opener Cameron Bancroft in the team.
“It would be very hard to have Usman Khawaja and Warner open the batting and then change a week later for the first Test at Edgbaston. My old way of thinking, I always like a right and left-hander combination. So I would love to see Cameron Bancroft get another opportunity at the top of the order,” Taylor said.
“I see (Matt) Renshaw has been making runs in New Zealand (for Australia A), but Bancroft has made a heap of runs in the Australian summer,” Taylor added.
