Sports
Ahead ofmilestone 100th Test, Warner vows to play like his old self
David Warner has vowed to go back to the future on the eve of his 100th Test as he strives to end his lean three-year run in Test cricket ahead of a massive 12 months for Australia’s Test team.Warner’s milestone has given him pause to reflect on what has got him to this point and what has made him the player he is. He is just 78 runs shy of 8000 Test runs, and only four openers in history have scored more than his 24 Test centuries. Yet he has not passed three figures in Test cricket since January 2020.
But with his milestone match just two days away, he has vowed to play like the Warner of old as he searches for that elusive Test century.
“I know when I’m at my best, I’m taking the bowlers on,” he said on Saturday. “It goes well and it flows with the team and the guy at the other end. Now I’ve probably gone a bit more responsible and trying to put the team into a good position without playing a bit rash.
“If anything I can probably be a bit more aggressive and go back to the older me, take them on a little bit more. But I think that also is dictated from what wickets you are getting.
“You don’t want to have a dig at the curators, but the last two years our wickets have been green. If I go out there play a cover drive and nick one, you guys [the media] will have a feeding frenzy.
“But now I’m in good positions and I’m nicking off, that’s the nature of the beast. This might be a wicket where I can go out and play like the old me. So you have to adapt to those conditions that’s what I’ve been doing the last 18 months.”
Warner’s assertion that he has been more circumspect is evident in his strike-rate over the last three years. It has dipped to 57.21 compared to his staggering career rate of 71.18. Even more concerning though is the runs. In his last 15 Tests and 27 innings he has averaged just 26.07 with only four half-centuries. His numbers are even leaner in 2022. He has not scored a half-century in his last 10 Test innings.
Warner’s claim that he needs to be more aggressive doesn’t quite stack up against some of his dismissals in the West Indies series where he was out driAhead of milestone 100th Test, Warner vows to play like his old selfving aggressively away from his body in three of his four innings. But he claims he has been out of luck rather than out of form from either a technical or decision-making standpoint.
“You look at some of the chop-ons and I’ve been in great positions when I’ve been nicked off,” Warner said. “So there’s nothing you can actually do about that. That’s what happens in the game of cricket, it ebbs and flows.
“People [were] writing me off in that one-day game here [against England] and I went out and scored a hundred on a pretty dicey wicket.
“It is about making runs. You’re never out of form. They’re not the words that I use and they’re definitely not used in our change rooms. It’s about [being] out of runs. And for me, I’ve got those starts but I keep having a little bit of misfortune but at the end of the day it comes around and when it comes around it comes around fast.”
Warner is hopeful it can come thick and fast on Boxing Day against a familiar foe. In celebrating his 100th Test this week he has been reminded of some of his great innings against South Africa, including his extraordinary 2014 tour that yielded three centuries against a world-class attack.While South Africa’s current attack hopes they have inflicted some psychological scarring on Warner in Brisbane, he has no such fears.
“I think if you look at the attacks that I’ve faced over my career, I wake up every day going into the nets facing the best attack in the world,” Warner said.
“I’ve faced guys that bowl 145kph every training session. So it’s not different for me. Am I scared going in those nets? 100% I’m scared. Going into the nets and facing those guys for the last decade has been a challenge in itself.
“But going out there and knowing that I’ve put numbers on the board against some of the great attacks that South Africa has produced, they stay with me when I go out there. You speak about Cape Town [2014], that was probably my best whole batting performance from the batting perspective and a lot of good things happened to me when I played against the South African attack.
“For me, it’s about as I said, come out here with a positive mindset and hopefully I’ll keep replicating that.”
(cricinfo)
Tiny Cape Verde have become the history makers of World Cup 2026 by defying all odds to become the smallest country to earn a spot in the knockout stages of the competition.
Their improbable run through the group stage, with a third straight World Cup draw, was completed with a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on Friday night to advance in the tournament.
Keeping goal for Cape Verde throughout has been Vozinha, 40, who has embodied the grit of his nation. “We are small, but we have big hearts and we are fighters,” said the goalkeeper, who last season played for Chaves in Portugal’s second tier.
The island nation off the western coast of Africa, which is making its debut on football’s grandest stage, already held 2010 champion Spain to a 0-0 draw – a shock in itself to begin their campaign.
They then came from behind to get a 2-2 result against Uruguay – the winners of the inaugural World Cup in 1930.
“The team was very eager to show this to the whole world,” Cape Verde coach Bubista said while draped in his country’s flag after the Saudi Arabia game.
“We are proud of having arrived at this stage. We have shown that we are a small country, but that we fight for the things that we want to achieve.”
Cape Verde’s three points put the team in second place behind Spain, which beat Uruguay on Friday night and won the group.
Cape Verde will play reigning World Cup champion Argentina in Miami on July 3.
[Aljazeera]
India suffered a potential injury scare ahead of the Test series in Sri Lanka, with their No.3 B Sai Sudarshan retiring hurt on 7 while playing for India A against Sri Lanka A during the third day of the first four-dayer in Galle. After scoring a century in the first innings, Sai Sudharsan retired hurt in the fourth over of India A’s second innings. By the end of the day’s play, however, India A had stretched their lead to 170.
Chhattisgarh opener Aayush Pandey and Devdutt Padikkal were unbeaten on 20 each at stumps.
India A had claimed a first-innings lead of 122 after dismissing Sri Lanka A for 330 in their first innings. Resuming from an overnight 113 for 2, they were guided by half-centuries from captain Sahan Arachchige (72) and Ashen Bandara (70). Nuwandi Fernando, who had passed his own fifty on day two, had his innings cut short on 84 on day three.
For India A, Auqib Nabi, who was the top wicket taker in the previous Ranji Trophy season and was a net bowler during India’s one-off Test against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh, was the pick of the bowlers, returning 4 for 58 in 19.4 overs. Sri Lanka A lost their last five wickets for 30 runs, with Nabi taking four of those.
Left-arm fingerspin-bowling allrounder Harsh Dubey and Vidarbha fast bowler Yash Thakur picked up two wickets apiece. India A then closed out the day on 48 for 0.
Scores:
India A 48 for 0 in 17 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 20*, Ayush Pandey 20*) and 452 for 6 dec in 111.4 overs [Sai Sudarshan 132, Dhruv Jurel 141, Shaik Rasheed 63; Chamika Gunasekera 3-64, Dilum Sudeera 2-143] lead Sri Lanka A 330 in 101.4 overs (Nuwanidu Fernando 84, Ashen Bandara 70, Sahan Arachchige 72; Aaqib Nabi 4-58, YashThakur 2-51, Harsh Dubey 2-84) by 170 runs
[Cricinfo]
Teams that finished in the top four of each group at the ongoing T20 World Cup have secured their spots for the next edition of the tournament in 2028. From Group 1, Australia, India, South Africa and Bangladesh have qualified. England, West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka join them from Group 2. Pakistan qualified as a result of being the tournament hosts; they finished fifth in the Group 2 table with just one win in five games.
Scotland missed out on a chance to directly qualify for the 12-team ICC event after losing to Sri Lanka on Friday.
The 10th spot will go to the next highest-ranked team on the T20I rankings table at the July 6, 2026 cut-off. As it stands, Ireland, ranked ninth, fill that spot. The remaining two places will be determined through a 10-team global qualifier, which will be supported by regional qualifiers.
Netherlands, ranked 14th, are likely to have to play in the qualifier to make the main event. So too Scotland (11th) and Ireland (9th) if they fall too far down the table.
The ICC also made a decision on the composition of teams at the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy, to be held next year in Sri Lanka. The hosts will be joined by the top five teams on the T20I rankings at the same July 6 cut-off. As it stands, the teams at the tournament will be Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa.
[Cricinfo]
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