Former Australia manager Darren Lehmann has a RADICAL solution to fix David Warner’s falling form for The Ashes, but Ricky Ponting thinks the opener missed his ‘greatest time to retire’
Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting believes David Warner may have missed out on a dream retirement during the recent summer of cricket at home.
However, former Australia men’s cricket coach Darren Lehmann, who coached Warner for five years, suggested moving him down the batting order might be the ideal send-off.
Warner’s future in Test cricket is in jeopardy as he was forced to leave India due to a broken elbow sustained during the second Test.
The 36-year-old is currently experiencing a shocking run in red-ball cricket with scores of just 1, 10 and 15 in India.
However, he vowed to continue playing and expressed his desire to be a part of the next Ashes series.
Australia’s Warner strikes during the first day of the second best match of the India-Australia series
Warner receives medical care in India. He faces an uphill battle to keep his place on the team of The Ashes.
Former Australian manager Darren Lehmann thinks Warner would be better suited for The Ashes
Warner has not scored a Test century in England in the last 25 innings, however Lehmann said a move down the order could ease the pressure and unlock the hard-hitting star.
‘David Warner, if he’s fit, he has something to add. The problem for me would be that he’s been there three times and he hasn’t done a 100’, he said. Pat & Heals of SENQ.
“I thought in the last Ashes series he should bat (the order) and hit five or six, something different, because he can really expose his bowling for the order.
“We just keep him as a starter … but David Warner, if he doesn’t have success at the top, he could hit, he could trade Warner and [Travis] Head. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to see who is going to succeed.
‘[Stuart] wide and [James] Anderson is going to be quite difficult and Warner has struggled with that in England, so whether or not they take him there will be up to the selectors.
‘My instinct is they’ll take it in the squad [for the Ashes]but will they play it? I’m not so sure,” Lehmann continued.
“But if you take it on the team, you better play with it or not take it at all.”
Ponting has backed Warner to make The Ashes but thinks he missed out on a fairy tale retreat in Australia this summer.
Warner’s recent form has put him under pressure and the opener has always struggled in England.
Ponting believes Warner has earned the right to retire on his own terms and believes the opener will line up in the World Test Championship.
However, he also said that Warner may have missed a golden opportunity to retire on a high during the Australian summer.
“I thought the best time for Davey to retire, if he was thinking about it at all, was after the Sydney test match here in Australia,” Ponting told the ICC Review podcast.
“He had just played his 100th Test in Melbourne, and he obviously got 200 in the first innings there. And retiring in front of their home crowd is obviously the way all players would like to end their careers.
Who knows now, that opportunity might not present itself again for Davey, you know. That’s almost another 12 months away.
I would love if I could do that. I think it would be appropriate if he could do that, finish in front of his home crowd. But he’s going to have to play very well from time to time for that to happen.