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Warner's booze ban to continue

Opener's alcohol abstinence to continue beyond 100 day mark as he eyes jam-packed playing schedule

David Warner's self-imposed booze ban will continue into the limited-overs series against England, but says he would have ended it if Australia had won the Ashes.

Warner hasn’t had an alcoholic drink since prior to the two-Test tour of the Caribbean in May in order to keep his body in peak condition for Australia’s gruelling winter schedule.

But if Australia had been able to retain the Ashes urn, Warner says it would have been a moment worthy of a beer with his teammates. 

"It’s been 100 days now so it’s quite bizarre,” Warner said.

"I did think I had it in me to do it but it’s about the discipline.

"I said from the start before I went to the West Indies that I wanted to give myself the best opportunity to get through the West Indies, the Ashes, a home series, to give myself the best opportunity because we have a lot of cricket to play and I’ve got to keep my body fresh and by doing that and by all means.

"You can celebrate and drink but at the moment I don’t feel we’ve had anything to celebrate.

"We’ve won a couple of Test matches and you’ve got to enjoy your wins because they’re very rare to come by. 

"Had we won the (Ashes) series I probably would have had a drink.

"For me it’s about a personal choice and I’m feeling for my body for the longevity of my career so I’ve got try and put myself and the team first.

"For me to have a good career and a long career I’ve got to sacrifice little things to help the team and my part is to not drink at the moment.

"By all means I’m not going to stop drinking forever. If I feel there’s a need to have a drink I will."

Watch: Highlights of Australia's win over Ireland

It’s been two years since the infamous nightclub altercation with England’s Joe Root which saw Warner banished to Africa with Australia A and miss the first two Tests of the 2013 Ashes series.

Since then Warner has become a father, married partner Candice, become one of the world’s most feared opening batsmen and been appointed Australia's vice-captain.

And given the 28-year-old isn’t the only teetotaller in the Australian set-up, he says he hasn’t found going cold turkey weird at all.

"Look at someone like Peter Siddle, hasn’t had a drink in three years,” said Warner.

"It’s just a thing you can do after cricket as well.

"It’s part of our culture, not saying I gave up drinking because I couldn’t control myself or anything like that. It’s just the thing that’s been ingrained in myself over the last four-six months.

"I look at my wife (ironwoman Candice) for an example, the 15 years she dedicated to her sport and she probably would have drunk three or four times in her career.

"It’s those little discipline things that can keep you from playing one year to five years but that’s just my choice, that’s my opinion and at the moment I’m not going to stop drinking. (I) just feel like at the moment I don’t need anything."

Warner is keen to continue playing in all three formats of the game despite a heavy schedule in the next 12 months.

Following the limited-overs series against England, which starts with a one-off T20 International on Monday, Australia travel to Bangladesh for a Test tour, host New Zealand and West Indies across six Tests, welcome India for a seven-match ODI series and three T20s, head across the Tasman for full tour of New Zealand before heading to India via South Africa for the World T20 in March.

And it’s that elusive tournament and the prospect of being the top-ranked nation in all three formats that is driving Warner.

"We as a team and a collective, we haven't won the T20 World Cup before,” he said.

"I'd really like to win that. That's something we haven't done.

"I really want to be a part of the teams that are No.1 in all three formats.

"That will be an outstanding achievement for us if we can be number one in all formats at the same time ... and if you're a part of all three, that will be fantastic.

"If that was something we'd be able to achieve I think that would be great for all of us."