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 "David Warner")
Australia’s David Warner bats against Pakistan during their cricket test match in Melbourne. Photo: AP/PTI
Australian coach Andrew McDonald called David Warner probably the greatest three-format player that the country has ever seen. On Saturday, December 30, speaking on the sidelines of Australia’s victory against Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, McDonald also discussed how big a loss Warner will be to the team after he returns from Tests post the New Year’s Test in Sydney against Pakistan.
“He is probably our greatest ever three-format player,” McDonald was quoted as saying to Fox Cricket. “He’ll be a loss. Other people have been gunning for him for a period of time but for us, internally, we’ve seen the great value and what he brings to the table, hence why we’ve kept picking him. He repaid that faith in the first Test match,” the 42-year-old added.
Reasoning why he called Warner the greatest, McDonald said, “It can be hard to replace someone who is striking at 70, averaging 45 (and has made the) most ever runs as an Australian opener.”
Is Warner the greatest?
Among the top run-getters for Australia in Tests, Warner is in fifth place behind the likes of Ricky Ponting, Alan Border, Steve Waugh and Steve Smith. He has 8695 runs at an average of 44.58, the most for any Australian opener. Surpassing greats like Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer.
When it comes to ODI cricket, Warner has 6932 runs in only 161 matches. His average of 45.30 is only bettered by Michael Bevan among Aussie players with more than 6000 runs. But Bevan played 71 more matches than the New South Wales cricketer but had fewer runs than him.
In T20Is, the 37-year-old has scored 2894 runs in 99 matches, which is only behind former Aussie skipper Aaron Finch, who scored 3120 runs in 103 matches.
If all formats are counted together, Warner has scored 18521 runs in 461 innings across all formats at an average of 42.47 and a strike rate of 85.94. Only pOnting has more runs than the left-hander. But Ponting was never successful in T20s. Thus, purely on statistics and because Warner faced the new ball in every format, he could very well be the greatest ever all-format player.
David Warner’s career in all three formats in numbers
Moreover, if World Cups are considered as the parameter to judge a player’s ability to perform in clutch situations, then Warner has scored 1527 runs in 29 matches in the ODI World Cup at an average of 56.55, the highest for any Aussie batter.
David Warner’s record in World Cups (ODI and T20)
His six hundred is also the most for any Australian in World Cup history. In T20 World Cups, Warne has played 34 matches and scored 806 runs, again the most for any Australian player.
First Published: Dec 30 2023 | 8:28 PM IST
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