Job not done yet, vows well-travelled Warner

David Warner insists Australia are entirely focused on their ICC Champions Trophy campaign and aren't distracted by the prospect of a rare break from the game of up to two months.

While the phrase "summer of cricket" has long extended beyond the normal bounds of December through February, the fact that Warner today referred to nearing the end of a "long summer" more than three months after summer technically ended underlines just how much cricket the Australians have played in the past eight months.

A seemingly endless season has effectively stretched from a one-day tour of South Africa in late September, which began less than three weeks after a two-month tour of Sri Lanka came to an end, to the current tournament in the United Kingdom.

A summer so long that it's included Australia's spring, autumn and winter as well.

Warner, as a dominant and in-demand three-format player like his captain Steve Smith, has played 55 innings in that time.

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He's scored more than 2800 runs as well, faced almost the same number of deliveries out in the middle and countless more in the nets. He's played against 15 separate opponents, at 26 different venues and in four different countries.

And in that whole period, only once has he enjoyed a gap of more than three weeks between matches, and that came when he was at Australia's training camp in Dubai ahead of their Test tour of India.

While the ongoing pay dispute between the players and Cricket Australia rumbles on, in any case the senior Australian players aren't scheduled to play again until a proposed tour of Bangladesh in August and September, which is still yet to be confirmed.

After effectively eight months on the road and with the end possibly less than a week away if Australia are knocked out of the group stage in this tournament, the temptation to look ahead to a stint away from the game and the constant stream of hotels rooms and airports would be understandable.

Not so, Warner says, who insists he and his teammates are ready and focused for one last push at this tournament.

"When you're at training and at games your sole focus is cricket," he says. "And that's what we have been able to do for a lot of years now.

"When we get to go home and have that luxury of sleeping in our own bed it is amazing, and we will enjoy it.

"But our first priority is playing cricket; that's what our job is to do and we thoroughly enjoy it. But we definitely make the most of it afterwards."

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Of course, Warner could have taken time off during Cricket Australia's player leave period in April and May, when he and 20 other Australians opted instead to play in the Indian Premier League.

And he's not complaining about life on the road.

"From our point of view, it's our job," he said ahead of his 45th and possibly penultimate match of his 'summer', against Bangladesh at The Oval on Monday.

"We have got to keep playing cricket. And we want to keep doing that and playing to the best of our ability. Every time, whether it is for our country or whatever team it is.

"There is always enthusiasm when you are playing for your country. I think every single team has had a long summer. I think every team is feeling that. But when you come to a tournament like this, everyone is up and about and you have to be on your game to win these competitions and tournaments.

"So from our point of view, we are upbeat, we are excited, and from this stage, every game from here is a knockout."

Warner and Australia's top order are striving for an improved performance after their first-up wobble against New Zealand on Friday, when they lost three wickets in nine overs before Birmingham's weather ultimately won the day.

More rain is expected in London for the match with Bangladesh on Monday, which now looms as a crucial fixture in the cut-throat, three-week tournament.

"I think with every game there is going to be pressure," he said. "For us, it is about winning every game and obviously, we're disappointed that the weather played its role.

"Fair to say we probably got out of jail a little bit there (against NZ).

"I think as you heard (Steve Smith) say, it wasn't one of our best performances with the ball. And in saying that, with the bat as well."

Champions Trophy 2017 Guide

Squads: Every Champions Trophy nation

Schedule

1 June – England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

2 June – New Zealand v Australia, No Result

3 June – Sri Lanka lost to South Africa by 96 runs

4 June – India v Pakistan, Edgbaston (D)

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, The Oval (D/N)

6 June – England v New Zealand, Cardiff (D)

7 June – Pakistan v South Africa, Edgbaston (D/N)

8 June – India v Sri Lanka, The Oval (D)

9 June – New Zealand v Bangladesh, Cardiff (D)

10 June – England v Australia, Edgbaston (D)

11 June – India v South Africa, The Oval (D)

12 June – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Cardiff (D)

14 June – First semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff (D)

15 June – Second semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston (D)

18 June – Final, The Oval (D)

19 June – Reserve day (D)