Steve Smith, just like so many times in the past, has come up in Warner's defence and said that Cricket Australia's lifetime ban on Warner is fundamentally wrong, and for the team, he continues to be a leader.
"From my point of view, banning for life from leadership is just fundamentally wrong. David served his time like I did. For us, we know he’s a leader around the group, and on and off the field he’s doing a tremendous job," said Smith post the last Test vs West Indies.
Warner on Wednesday withdrew the bid to overturn his lifetime captaincy ban, saying the review panel wanted him to go through "public lynching" and he is not prepared to let his family be the "washing machine for cricket's dirty laundry". Warner and Smith were both handed a year-long ban after Cameron Bancroft was caught applying sandpaper to the ball during a Test match in South Africa in 2018.
While Smith was banned from holding a leadership position in Australian cricket for two years, Warner was banned for life. Bancroft was banned from captaincy for 12 months.
Warner & Poor Form
Warner is enduring a lean patch in the longest format with his last four scores, reading 21 and 28 (second Test in Adelaide) and 5 and 48 (first Test in Perth). Smith went on to say that David has the full support of the team and wished that he goes on to score big vs South Africa. "David has said he's done and dusted and get on with it. He's got our full support. Hopefully, he can have a really big series for us against South Africa with the bat."
Over the last two years, Warner has averaged just 28.12 without a century. The left-handed opener is due to play his 100th Test against South Africa in Melbourne at the end of the month but his lack of form has put his place in jeopardy for the upcoming tours of India and England.
Warner - The Best Ever?
Smith added that Warner is a once-in-a-generation player and arguably the best opener for Australia.
"Davey's a once-in-a-generation player, he's arguably the best-ever opener for Australia. The way he's able to put pressure on bowlers from the outset helps everyone down the order as well. He's been an incredible player for a long period of time, his record suggests that. There's no reason why he can't have a big series for us coming this week as well. He's batting nicely,"
Smith said
Luck plays a big role in the game of cricket and Smith believed that Warner hasn't really had it on his side lately.
"He hasn't had a great deal of luck lately either, it seems like every time he gets an inside edge, it goes onto the stumps. A lot of the time when you're scoring runs you need some luck. For me, it's in his body language and the way he goes out there - he's really positive and just in a good frame of mind. Particularly yesterday when he went out to bat he was in a good frame of mind, the way his feet were moving was really sharp," he added.
Australia white-washed West Indies and their next challenge will be to take care of South Africa when they tour Australia for a Test series.
(Inputs PTI)
