Mark Taylor, a former Australian cricketer, has defended David Warner as Australia prepares to choose its team for the World Test Championship final and the Ashes series.
Due to his subpar international performance, David Warner has drawn a lot of criticism, with some even suggesting that he be dismissed from Australia’s Ashes team. Taylor, though, has stated that Australia will likely keep Warner for the WTC final and won’t replace him the following week for the Ashes.
ESPN cricinfo quoted Taylor as saying, “If I’m reading the tea leaves right, it sounds like they will stick with David Warner for the World Test Championship at The Oval, and if that’s the way Australia are thinking about the World Test Championship, then yes, they have to start with him for the Ashes.”
Notably, the Ashes start on June 16 at Edgbaston, while the WTC final between India and Australia is set to be contested from June 7 to 12 (including the reserve day) at the Oval.
Usman Khawaja and David Warner opening the batting and then switching a week later for the first Test at Edgbaston would be very difficult. Whoever they believe to be our best opening lineup for the World Test Championship should play the first three Tests of the summer—the WTC final and the first two Ashes Tests.
Taylor said that given Cameron Bancroft‘s recent performance in the Sheffield Shield, where he was the highest scorer with 945 runs in 20 innings at an average of 59.06, including four hundreds, he should be given a chance at the top of the order.
In my previous way of thinking, I always preferred a combination of right- and left-handed people. Cameron Bancroft has made a ton of runs in the Australian summer, but Renshaw has been making runs in New Zealand [for Australia A], so I would love to see him get another chance at the top of the order, Taylor said. “Their capacity to catch on the field is one thing I like about Bancroft, which I also like in Renshaw. We’ll need to locate two openers within the next year or two.
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