Published By: Basu’s retirement
Last Updated: July 11, 2023, 2:15 PM IST
Australia’s David Warner in Ashes (AP)
David Warner has been struggling for form in the Ashes series and failed to impress in the third Test, scoring four runs and one across his two innings.
Former England skipper, Nasser Hussain, believes that the Australian cricket team are bound to pick David Warner for the fourth Ashes Test. Hussain’s prediction comes just days after Warner failing in the third match at Headingley. Australia lost their first Test match in the Ashes due to some underwhelming performances from their batters.
Warner failed to impress in the third Test, scoring four runs and one across his two innings. But Hussain feels that Australia team management, in all likelihood, will not tinker with their line-up.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the ex-England batter said, “I think if they’d won here [third Test at Headingley]and they had won the Ashes, it would have been a time to move on from David Warner, but now it’s a live game, I think they need and have to play Warner. My point being you could play Cameron and Mitchell Marsh and leave Warner out, but then who opens?”
Nasser Hussain believes that Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh could serve as ideal options for the opener’s slot. At the same time. Hussain stresses on the fact opener’s spot is a special role with its own unique set of challenges.
“That’s a specialist role: opening in Test Match cricket”, he said. Hussain feels that the Aussies will have to think hard about who would open in the next match, scheduled to be played at Old Trafford.
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David Warner’s spot is likely to come under scrutiny for the next Test match, considering his performance in the ongoing Ashes. The southpaw fell prey to Stuart Broad twice in the Test match at Headingley, making it a total of 17 times that he has fallen to the English pacer. Mitchell Marsh’s impressive inning that saw him score 118 runs in as many balls has made it very difficult to keep him out of the playing XI. All-rounder Cameron Green is also set to make his return in the fourth Test.
Australia captain Pat Cummins, though not a selector, has refused to confirm David Warner’s selection for the Old Trafford Test. He said that the team will use the break to take stock of their options ahead of the penultimate fixture.
“We’ve got nine or 10 days now, so we’ll take a deep breath”, Cummins was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. With the expected recoveries of Cameron Green and Josh Hazlewood, the Aussie skipper believes that they will have a packed roster to select the best possible line-up for the fourth Test match starting from July 19.
