Australia’s opening batsman David Warner has categorically dismissed talks about his impending retirement right after the end of the ongoing Ashes series in which only the fifth and final Test match is left to be played.
After four Test matches of the intensely fought series, Australia are ahead by 2-1 and have retained the Ashes for the fourth consecutive time and stand a chance to win their first ever series in England since 2002.
It has been widely speculated in the media that David Warner, who has struggled to make big runs in the series despite batting brilliantly over the four matches, will announce his retirement after the end of the Ashes series hoping to win it for the first time in his playing career.
David Warner has continued to struggle against his nemesis Stuart Broad, who has dismissed him for as many as 17 times in Test cricket whereas the laTest addition of fast bowlers in Chris Woakes and Mark Wood has also troubled the left-handed Australian opening batsman.
When asked about his plans to announce his retirement after the end of the Ashes series with the fifth and final Test starting on Thursday, July 27, David Warner told the media,
”No, not at all. 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.”
The senior batsman said that he has played his best in the series so far and despite missing on notching up big scores, he has felt comfortable with the way he has batted so far despite England bowlers troubling a lot across the four Test matches.
David Warner said,
“I’ve probably left a few out there, but in saying that I’ve played a lot better than what I did last time. 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.
Talking about his dismissal against Chris Woakes in the drawn fourth Test match at Manchester, David Warner said it was the same of the ball that made the difference as she would have dealt with it accordingly by probably putting it away for a four.
“Look at the dismissal against Woakes in the first innings of the last Test. That one seams. If it doesn’t seam, it hits the middle of the bat and that’s what happens in this game. I would have been disappointed if I went forward to that and just tried to defend it. So that’s how I’ve wanted to play. I do feel like I’m playing pretty decently,” said David Warner.
The senior left-handed opening batsman had earlier announced that he would want to sign off from Test cricket this year during their home series against Pakistan, probably after the Test match in Sydney.
David Warner plans to retire from Test cricket in order to prolong his career in the shortest format as he remains a player who is in high demand across T20 leagues in the world especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he captained Delhi Capitals (DC) during their horrible season last year.
“So for me, I feel like I’m in a good space, contributed well, and as a batting unit, we’re all about partnerships. And I think the partnerships that we’ve had in key moments of this series so far have actually worked very well for us as a team,”
David Warner said.