“I think they’ll want to play Warner in the World Test Championship match,” says Ricky Ponting
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting feels David Warner had a chance to retire from Test cricket at the Sydney Cricket Ground earlier this year but believes the opener is set to make a comeback in the format.
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting feels David Warner had a chance to retire from Test cricket at the Sydney Cricket Ground earlier this year but believes the opener is set to make a comeback in the format.
Warner’s Test future is in doubt after he was forced to return to Australia following the second Test in Delhi due to a concussion and an elbow fracture.
His Test form has been a growing concern since 2022. Warner has scored just 607 runs at a 26.39 average in 14 matches, including a double-century in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa.
Despite that, Ponting is confident that the opener will return to a team that punched their ticket for the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 Final with a nine-wicket win against India in Indore and has an Ashes series coming up shortly after.
“I think they’ll want to play him in the World Test Championship match. They have got some really big decisions to make, leading into the Ashes [in England] as well. A bit like some of the selection issues they had coming to India. They’re probably going to have similar things to think about when they get to the UK because David’s record in the UK is not as strong as it is in some other places around the world,”
Ponting said on The ICC Review.
“But I don’t think it’s the end of David Warner, I think they’ll bring him back for that one game. If he does well there, then I think he’ll probably start the Ashes and see from there,”
he added.
At 36, Warner is nearing the end of his career, and Ponting, who admitted in the past that he extended his career beyond what was necessary, may have a greater understanding than most of what it’s like to be in Warner’s position right now.
Ponting thinks Warner has missed his finest chance to retire from Test cricket in style.
“Look, I was on the radio a couple of days ago, back here in Australia, and I thought the absolute best time for Davey to retire if he was thinking about it at all, was after the Sydney Test match here in Australia. He’d just played his 100th Test in Melbourne and got 200 in the first innings down there. And to bow out in front of his home crowd is the way that every player would like to finish their careers,”
said Ponting.
“Who knows now that opportunity might not come around again for Davey, you know. That’s nearly another 12 months away,”
the former Aussie captain added.
Ponting remains hopeful Warner can rediscover his form and give his career enough of a life to draw curtains on his terms.
“Look, I’d love it if he could do that. It’d be fitting if he could do that, finish in front of his home crowd. But he’s going to have to play well between now and then for that to happen. And in my own heart of hearts, I hope that’s the case. I think his career deserves to finish the way he wants it to. Sort of not to be dropped or tapped on the shoulder in the middle of an overseas tour and have his career end in that way. That’s why I just hope he can find it within himself to score a lot of runs between now and next summer. If he does, then next summer might be the ideal opportunity for him,”
he concluded.