"What he is doing is making the selectors' job hard" - Micheal Vaughan on David Warner's continued struggles in Ashes 2023
Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes Australian opener David Warner is making it harder for selectors to persist with him by getting himself set and not converting on so many occasions.
The dashing opener was again dismissed for 24 on Day 1 of the final Test at the Oval. Warner has gotten off to starts in almost every innings of the ongoing series but has scored just the lone half-century in the second Test at Lord's.
Vaughan told Cricbuzz at the end of a gripping first day's play:
"What he is doing is making the selectors' job hard. What he has a chance of doing in this series is making their job easy by scoring runs. That's not the David Warner we know. Getting in on so many occasions, he's not facing the Dukes ball from back in 2019. That was whipping around corners. This is doing very little."
The former English skipper expressed surprise at Warner's inability to exert pressure back on the bowlers with the ball not doing much in the air or off the pitch. He added:
"And the ball that does little and from what I've seen David Warner in the past, particularly in Australia when it doesn't do a great deal, he just explodes. He's always putting the bowlers under pressure. Not seeing that from Warner."
Despite the southpaw's struggles, evidenced by his averaging 25 with the bat after nine innings, Australia are in pole position to win the Ashes 3-1.
Warner has provided the side with solid starts with scores in the 20s and 30s, even if he has struggled to convert them into substantial scores right through the English summer. The 36-year-old is yet to score a century in his 19 Tests at England, with an average of only 25.55.
"He has almost needed an awful ball to hit the boundary" - Michael Vaughan
Micheal Vaughan further emphasized David Warner's lack of form by pointing out his inability to hit boundaries at will, something he would do at his best.
The veteran opener has batted well within himself throughout the series to regain form, evidenced by his strike rate of 56.10 compared to his career strike rate of over 70.
"He has almost needed an awful ball to hit the boundary. Warner at his best hits decent balls to the boundary by punching it through the off-side. He runs between the wickets well which he is still doing but he got a few half volleys today that he just patted to mid on," said Vaughan.
"Reckon Warner at his best smashes them to midwicket. He might be trying to bat too long. Would love to see Warner just have a little bit of a dash as that's when he is at his best," added Vaughan.
Much has been speculated on this being Warner's final hurrah in the red-ball format. However, the champion batter has dismissed such notions, restating his wish to play in the Australian whites till the Sydney Test against Pakistan next year.
Australia will resume Day 2 at 61/1 in response to England's 283 as they look to win their first Test series in England since 2001.