David Warner and his obnoxious self

With the on-going high-voltage series between Australia and South Africa, there have been phases where tempers have flared and heat has risen between the two sides. Both the sides share a similar passion towards the game and the cricket played is extremely competitive. In such a situation, there are bound to be some exchanges between the batsmen and the bowlers.

A few exchanges have taken place when the South African batsmen repeatedly have pulled out when the Australian bowlers were just about to bowl the delivery that has led to a spray of words by the bowlers. But along with the bowlers, there is another who is never short of words for his opponents – David Warner. Warner, somehow, always seems to be in the thick of things with him always buzzing around in the field, although he hasn’t been letting his bat do the talking this time around.

“I don’t think you saw any of our players stop once because of guys walking behind the sight screen. I don’t know how you can be that distracted or what they’re looking at or what they’re seeing. They’ve got to try and take those little distractions out of their mind because that could be something that’s detracting from their game and preventing them from staying out there for longer periods,” Warner said.

“If the guy’s in the fourth tier at the MCG and you see someone move, you’re looking way too much and you’re too distracted. The other day AB de Villiers played a ball when the sight-screen was still on the advertising board, so if he’s just concentrating on the specifics of the bowler then that’s fantastic. But someone is moving away because a guy is peaking his head behind the sight screen – if you’re picking those little things up I think you’re not watching the bowler hard enough.”

Warner himself could use some of the advice related to concentration and spending some time on the crease with being dismissed in the both the innings, cheaply. His preparation heading into the series was pretty-much spent on the bench, with the Daredevils in the Champions League and having played just one first-class match since April.

This is not the first time that Warner has made such obnoxious comments about oppositions. Earlier in the year, after he assaulted India with the fastest century by an opener in the third Test at Perth, he said India’s future was bleak as their youngsters are a long way to cope with bouncy and fast tracks also having questioned the state of the team post retirement of the greats – Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman.

“The challenge for India has always been how they perform outside. Everyone talks about bouncy pitches and how they approach it. When Tendulkar and Dravid and those boys retire in a couple of years, where is Indian cricket going to be. Are the youngsters coming through? They have to find way, come here and work hard and do well on green wickets,” Warner said.

It perhaps would do Warner a lot of good if he stuck to perfecting his game and worrying about his deliberation ahead of the second Test against South Africa. He stands at the brink of exclusion if Watson is fit to make the team for the second Test at Adelaide given his run lately. Snooty or not, it is the runs he makes that will count at the end of the day and it would be nice if he scored some himself. A little more attention where required will be appreciated by fans and the team.