Sydney: David Warner can continue to play Test cricket for another year if he continues the strong form displayed against Pakistan in the just-concluded first Test in Perth, former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Ian Healy has said.
The 37-year-old, who scored a match-winning 164 off 211 balls in the first innings against Pakistan in the opening Test, which Australia won by 360 runs, is playing his swansong series as he is likely to bid farewell to the longest format of the game after the third Test. In Sydney on his home grounds.
“What I love about him is his durability. We all know how fit he is because he keeps his pace up between the wickets. I just love the way he keeps moving and his feet move,” Healy told SEN Radio.
“That’s the part I agree with about Mitchell Johnson and what he said about him, ‘Why do you have a swansong, the last three years haven’t been very good and now you’re choosing how you can retire.’
“But if he bats like that, he could spend another year for me not wanting to play anymore. That’s what he was missing in Test cricket, that movement and balance and real bat speed when he needs it,” he added.
Given his recent poor run in Test cricket, Warner faced a lot of criticism for publicly declaring that he hoped to end his Test career after this series in Sydney by former teammate Mitchell Johnson.
Johnson felt that the series against Pakistan should have been used to choose Warner’s successor.
However, Healy feels the southpaw’s century in difficult conditions won Australia the match in Perth.
“The 160 he made in the first innings won us a Test in Perth. It wasn’t easy. I looked at it from afar on Thursday afternoon and said, ‘Oh my God, I don’t want to be a Pakistani’. They will feel a foot shorter than they are.” Already tomorrow afternoon without knowing how difficult the conditions were.
“Pakistan may have missed the trick in the first session (on day one), as their bowling was so short, but I don’t know anyone else who can make 160 so quickly in difficult conditions.
“I like the way Michael Slater made the batting conditions difficult in the second innings. Mark Waugh could also make fun of the difficult conditions, but David Warner was brilliant.