Warner 'highly unlikely' to tour Bangladesh

Australia are set to play two new opening batsmen in Bangladesh after injured star David Warner said it’s “highly unlikely” he’ll take part in the two-Test series next month.

Warner broke his left thumb while batting in Saturday’s controversial 64-run win over England at Lord’s, with x-rays revealing a fracture which is expected to sideline the star opener between four-six weeks.

Watch: Warner breaks thumb at Lord's

The first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong on October 9 is only 33 days away, and Warner says he “knew pretty much straight away” that he would struggle to be fit for the series.

“I know from last time when it was actually just a minor fracture, it was a minimum of three weeks before I could pick up a bat,” Warner said.

“As I said before you never want to miss a Test match.

“I never do want to miss a Test match but it’s probably highly unlikely I’m going to make Bangladesh.”

Warner fractured the same thumb in January 2013 when a rearing Mitchell Johnson delivery struck the left-hander in the WACA Ground nets.

The 28-year-old recovered in time to take part in Australia’s ill-fated Test tour of India a month later.

But Warner says the break caused by England fast bowler Steven Finn is considerably worse than the 2013 injury and expects to spend a month and half without holding the oversized chunk of wood he calls a bat.

“At the moment it’s six weeks with the thumb so that’s before I can pick up a bat,” Warner said.

“So I think that pretty much sums up what I can and can’t do.

“So for me it’s about trying to target what’s after that and sit down with obviously the coach and the selectors and see what I have to do.”

The silver lining for Warner, if there is one, is that he’ll be able to rest up after what’s been a gruelling two years of non-stop cricket with another jam-packed 12 months to follow.

“You never want to miss any games for Australia and especially I wanted to go on with the form (I believe I was in) to try and put some big scores on the board in this one-day tournament and now I’m going to miss the rest of this and quite possibly the Test series,” Warner said.

“I’m gutted. I’m not happy about that but I’ll get a bit of a break now and got six to eight weeks off before we have to come back and assemble for the first-class game in Adelaide.

“So look it’s now time to get back as soon as possible and then I can work on my fitness for longevity of the next few years.”

Image Id: ~/media/CEC46836184B45159E7A822F3E4B0006

Warner says he won't be able to pick up a bat for six weeks // Getty Images

Warner’s likely omission from the Qantas tour of Bangladesh means Australia will play a completely new opening combination for the first time since Shane Watson and Chris Rogers came together in the 2013 Ashes series.

Joe Burns, after making an impressive start to his ODI career alongside Warner, is the frontrunner to take one spot.

But now with another position up for grabs, names like Cameron Bancroft, Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja come back in to contention.

Whichever way Rod Marsh and the national selection panel go, Warner says he would like to talk to the new openers but is confident those who are chosen will do the job for Australia in his absence.

“I think it’d be nice if I can have a little bit of a chat to whoever is there, but with the experience with Steve Smith who has been over there and a couple of other lads that they can actually learn from them,” Warner said.

“I’m pretty sure the guys that are coming in, guys from Australia A, they’ve just played in India and know what the experiences are like, so whoever comes in I’m sure will do a great job and do whatever they can to help the team win.”