Warner returns in Top End, eyes World Cup

His first hit-out on home turf might have lasted less than an hour, but David Warner felt suitably emboldened by the signs he saw and the rhythm he felt that he immediately proclaimed his intention to be part of Australia’s World Cup defence in the UK next year.

Warner showed both form and fluency during his 36 from 32 balls on Saturday wearing the green strip of City Cyclones in the Northern Territory Strike League in front of around 100 people relaxing on the grass banks of Marrara Oval.

His previous match appearance in Australia was as captain of Australia’s successful T20 outfit in front of more than 30,000 at the MCG last February, a series that preceded the now infamous Test campaign in South Africa.

WARNER SCORECARD: City Cyclones v Northern Tide

BANCROFT SCORECARD: Desert Blaze v Southern Storm

Since then, the 31-year-old has been served with a 12-month ban from international and state cricket and has sought to maintain his professional skills by turning out in the recent Global T20 tournament in Toronto before arriving in Darwin last Thursday.

He had pledged to play in the NT Strike League while he was involved in community coaching work earlier this year as part of the terms of his ban, and made good his offer today in the Cyclones’ comfortable win against Northern Tide in a 50-over fixture.

And while has yet to nail a big score in competitive surrounds since returning to cricket in Canada – where the pitches were hardly conducive to free-hitting – Warner believes there is sufficient time between his suspension ending and the World Cup starting to get up to speed.

In part that’s because - when he returns to training, whether it be for New South Wales or as part of an Australia squad - he will be tested in the practice nets by bowlers the calibre of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.

Supplementing that confidence is his assessment that the 12-month break forced upon him will allow him to refresh and re-focus, having admitted today that the 12 weeks he spent at home prior to heading to Toronto was the longest cricket-free stint he’s endured in the best part of a decade.

As a result, he feels it won’t be his absence from international competition over an extended period that prevents him being part of Australia’s World Cup defence that begins in England in early June.

Image Id: 24E9A6738F284EBFB29224C0AF303D42 Image Caption: Warner hit 36 from 32 balls // Getty

“I’m pretty good when I’m fresh,” Warner said today in Darwin, where he will play again for the Cyclones tomorrow against ex-Test opening partner Cameron Bancroft’s Desert Blaze.

“If you look at the last 12 months, I played basically every game (for Australia) and didn’t get a rest.

“I had a five-day turnaround before the first Test in South Africa and I led the team in (the T20 tri-series in Australia and) New Zealand when some of the other guys had a rest.

“So I know that the breaks do me (good), and you don’t lose form overnight.

“You can be a bit scratchy, but time in the nets and … I wake up every day and face Mitchell Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood, the best bowlers, I feel, in the world.

“If I can face them consistently at training when the ban’s up, that gets you back in.

“You’ve got plenty of warm-up games (before the World Cup, and I’ll be playing the IPL (Indian Premier League T20 competition) as well leading into that.

“So there’s plenty of cricket and plenty of world-class players to play against, as well to get my preparation on song.”

Given that his Canadian experience was more of a lottery than a form guide, with balls alternately skidding through and leaping off the challenging pitches, it didn’t take the former Test vice-captain long to find his feet in the sunny climes of Darwin’s dry season.

By dint of the coin toss, Warner’s team batted second by which time the morning dew and slight tackiness in the surface had dried and by the time he was dismissed in the 10th over, his team was 1-77 and flying in pursuit of the Tide’s 9-197.

The bat he was flailing might have displayed an unfamiliar livery, but the checked drive he eased over cover from towering rival quick Tom Pinson’s opening over was unmistakably Warner.

As the opening song from the neighbouring Darwin Blues and Roots Festival sound check growled across Marrara, Warner simultaneously found his groove with three spanking boundaries from Victoria paceman Jake Reed’s third over.

Two that barrelled through the off-side, and the third squirted expertly past square leg as the anguished seamer strained to fire in a containing yorker.

When Reed returned next over and dropped short, Warner was on to him in a flash of his Spartan bat that sent the ball hurtling over square leg and into the playing precinct at the adjacent Marrara number two ground, where Bancroft was waiting his turn at the crease.

Warner’s former Test opening partner, who has been part of the Strike League since it kicked off in T20 format three weeks ago, was listed to bat at number three for the Blaze as they chased the Southern Storm’s imposing 7-290.

Which had been built largely on South Australia-listed Kelvin Smith’s sparkling 133 from 107 balls faced earlier in the day.

It was while Warner was speaking to waiting media that Bancroft headed to the middle, where he remained for long after Warner and his teammates had secured their seven-wicket win.

Bancroft’s innings yielded almost double his former opening colleague’s, at a slightly more circumspect pace - 62 off 66 balls faced.

And included a hiatus of several minutes after the 25-year-old’s attempted sweep shot saw the ball rebound directly from his bat’s leading edge and slam into his throat.

Image Id: 4FE8B4957258485BAD4A0A6141DC2E37 Image Caption: Bancroft made 62 off 66 balls // Getty

Bancroft continued batting before undergoing a medical examination, after the Blaze had secured a six-wicket win on the back of a stunning 133-ball 147 from Ben Abbott, brother of New South Wales all-rounder Sean Abbott.

By that stage, many of the crowd who had come specifically to witness Warner had drifted across to the music festival headlined by veteran rocker Kevin Borich.

But the interest caused by the former Test pair’s appearance has helped ensure cricket is also a Darwin drawcard this weekend.

In addition to playing a role in the promotion of cricket in the Top End, Warner confirmed  his intention to continue at international level once his suspension is completed, and for some time into the future.

“I wouldn’t be here today and working my backside off to keep scoring as many runs as I can for each team that I play for if I didn’t love it – I’d probably retire,” Warner said after his dismissal.

“But I’ve still got plenty of fuel in the tank and I’m excited.

“(I have) the next eight months to reflect upon what’s happened and then moving forward to be a better person and a better cricketer.

“I’m just ticking along to make sure I’m preparing well for this and the CPL coming up.”

The CPL being the Caribbean Premier League, where Warner will appear in the kit of the St Lucia Stars – the next phase of his return to world cricket that he believes will be realised at next year’s World Cup.