Warner shot criticised by ex-teammates

Australia opener David Warner has been criticised by past players Ricky Ponting and Chris Rogers for a "reckless" dismissal on the first morning of the second Commonwealth Bank Test against South Africa in Hobart.

Warner was out in the opening over of the match after Australia were sent in to bat by South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, the hosts' vice-captain slashing at a wide delivery from Vernon Philander and edging through to Quinton de Kock behind the stumps to depart for one.

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It triggered a dramatic collapse that at one point saw the home side reduced to 5-17. 

The left-hander – who made a rollicking 97 in the first innings of the first Test in Perth – is renowned as one of world cricket's most destructive batsmen and has built an enviable Test record over the past five years with a strike-rate rivalling legendary blaster Adam Gilchrist.

But on a cloudy morning in Hobart, the consensus was Warner should have been more circumspect.

Asked on BT Sport if, with a player such as Warner, you have to "take the good with the bad", former Australia captain Ponting said: "You probably have to, I guess – he has got the knack of setting innings up pretty quickly like he did in Perth.”

"But that to me is still quite reckless as a shot for an opening batsman," he added. "On these sort of pitches, you are looking to score the majority of your early runs off the back foot; defend well on the front foot, leave on the front foot, wait for the bowlers to get a little bit short, and make them pay."

Ponting's co-commentator, former England captain Michael Vaughan, was in agreement.

"(Philander) dangled the carrot wide of off-stump – (Warner) needed a fishing rod to try and reach it," Vaughan said.

"He plays that way, but I think the one thing you'd say to Davey Warner in conditions like this is you don't mind him attacking on the back foot when the ball's coming through hip-high … I guess if you're being ultra-critical you'd be saying to him, 'Wait a minute, with the ball shaping around, just be a little more watchful on the front foot'."

Rogers, who up until last year's Ashes series in England partnered Warner in the middle for Australia in Tests, shared the same sentiment.

"These are the situations where you're looking for your senior players to step up," he said in commentary on ABC Grandstand.

"Davey Warner – what do you say? That's how he plays his game and so often it comes off, but in these conditions you probably just need to be a little bit tighter.

"He'll know that. He'll be kicking himself, thinking, 'As a leader, that's a disappointing shot'.

"It's so wide, he probably expected it to swing back, but even the length wasn't there to be flaying that through the off side.

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"We spoke last week (in the first Test) about being adaptable. Yes, you want to play your natural game, but equally, you have to respect the conditions, you have to respect the bowler and rein it in.

"Davey Warner is so aggressive and so good, (but) in this situation … in a cut-throat game, you just need to be tighter."

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