Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has offered his take on the ongoing discussion surrounding the selection of David Warner in the fourth Test of the ongoing Ashes 2023, saying that the veteran opener has done enough in the past to warrant another chance.
Warner has made 141 runs from six hits this Ashes series and his place at the top of Australia’s batting order has been further questioned after he failed twice during the most recent Test that England won in Headingley when dismissed by long-time nemesis Stuart Broad on both occasions.
While captain Pat Cummins has already come out and said Australian selectors will consider all options when settling on their XI for the crucial fourth Test, Ponting is inclined to stick with Warner.
“I know there’s been a lot of chat the last couple of days since the end of Headingley and it’s more the fact that it’s Broad that’s getting him out, I think. I think if it was anybody else, the noise probably wouldn’t be quite as loud, but the fact that he struggled to get through the opening spells of Broad a few times in this series again, makes it a little bit more of a worry,” Ponting said on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
“And the reason I say that is because I’ve played against teams in the past and bowlers in the past where you just know that they’ve got the wood on you and they’re on top of you and you just can’t get away from it because if I’m Ben Stokes, even if David Warner gets through the first spell of Stuart Broad, then I’ll give him a short break and I’ll bring him back again.
“When someone’s got you out 17 times, it does become as much a mental or probably more of a mental battle than it does a technical battle. But just thinking about the series, I’d be inclined to stick with David Warner,” he said.
The former captain is somewhat concerned by Warner’s form, but wants the 36-year-old to show his true fighting spirit like he showed at the WTC final and the Lord’s test.
“I always talk about when you see guys smiling on the field, smiling for me, it’s almost a nervous reaction. You’re never happy to play and miss at one or you’re never happy to nick one to slip, but for some reason when guys are under pressure, it’s nerves that make you smile,” said Ponting.
“I’d like to see him go the other way. I’d like to see him show that real bulldog fighting spirit that he’s got. I think like he showed in the first innings of the World Test Championship, like he showed in the first innings at Lord’s where he made runs there.
I’d like to see him get back to that and if he gets back to that, I think with the way that I’ve seen him start in a couple of his innings, I honestly do feel a big score is just around the corner for him,” he added.
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