David Warners manager James Erskine hits back at swan song criticism

In the wake of a scathing column from former teammate Mitchell Johnson in which the 37-year-old batter was slammed for ‘nominating his own retirement date’ despite being in poor Test form, Erskine was moved to defend his client.

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Erskine argued if there was a better opening batter knocking the door down to be selected, Warner, who has a Test batting average of just 22.81 in 2023, would happily stand aside for the good of the team.

“If there was somebody sitting on the sidelines who was an absolute automatic to come in, bring ‘em on,” Erskine told SEN Sportsday.

“David would say, ‘Be my guest, I’ll give you batting tips’, but the fact of the matter is, there isn’t.

“I’m guessing but I won’t be far out, I think between Marcus Harris, Renshaw and Bancroft, they’ve probably got a total of 1500 runs between them.

“My black Labrador could work out who are the contenders to basically take the spot… collectively they have averages in the mid-20s.

“David Warner has played 109 Test matches and has an average of 44.4, (he has) over 8500 Test runs.

“If anyone listening thought that David Warner wanted to play Test cricket for Australia if he didn’t think he was up for it, they’re wrong… he doesn’t want a swan song, he thinks he’s the best for the job.

“If he goes and gets two ducks in the first two Tests then they’ll drop him, but he won’t.”

Erskine insisted Warner’s announcement midway through 2023 about his preferred end date was not an attempt to pressure selectors into giving him a ‘swan song’.

“It’s not a swan song, he’s just saying, ‘I’ve got to put a date on when I’m going to retire’,” Erskine said.

“It’s like the bank telling you at 65 you’ve got to retire… the real reason to be honest is the amount of time he spends away from his family, he’s spent six of the last seven months away from his family.

“He still wants to carry on playing T20 and One-Day cricket, in fact, he said to me the other day that he’d like to play in the 2027 World Cup, he’ll be 41 then, he’s doing a Bradman.”

Warner’s manager insisted that his client’s selection in the Test team will come down to his performances – not sentiment.

“The facts will come out, ‘Are you good enough to play or are you not good enough to play’, he had a pretty good World Cup, his last Test match averages haven’t been the best,” Erskine said.

“Tell me someone who can walk in there and replace him?”

Ricky Ponting at least seems to know an obvious candidate to replace Warner, with the cricket legend recently declaring Cameron Bancroft had made a compelling case to be Australia’s next opener.

It could be argued the West Australian opener paid the highest price for his part in the sandpaper scandal that rocked Australian cricket in 2018.

While Warner and Steve Smith rebuilt their careers in the national team following that debacle, Bancroft has been largely unheard of outside state cricket circles.

But the West Australian’s bat has been doing the talking for him over the past 12 months.

Bancroft, 31, led the Sheffield Shield runscorers with an average just below 60 in the 2022/23 season, smashing four centuries and finishing almost 300 runs ahead of second-ranked Daniel Drew.

He’s at it again this year, hitting another two tons and three 50s through six matches for an average of 56.88.

Bancroft’s average was over 63 prior to getting out for just seven runs in last week’s fascinating Shield clash with Queensland.

In that match, another potential Warner replacement, Matt Renshaw, scored 30 in the first innings and just six in the second dig.

At the same time, Marnus Labuschagne - another potential option atop the order - made a two-ball duck and then 24 in the second innings.

Usman Khawaja, who is guaranteed one opening position this summer, smashed 102 batting at No. 4 for the Bulls in the first innings in a match that ended in a draw.

Bancroft, Renshaw, Marcus Harris and Cameron Green have all been picked in a PM’s XI to face Pakistan in Canberra starting December 6.

Bancroft has fallen foul of the selectors, playing his last Test for Australia in 2019 and being overlooked for Harris for this year’s Ashes squad, despite a far superior record at Shield level.

But cricketing great Ponting says there’s only one real option to replace Warner when he departs the Test scene.

“If you look at those three guys (Bancroft, Renshaw and Harris), I think it’s quite clear that Bancroft is the one that’s got the runs on the board and I wouldn’t be surprised if (selectors) go that way,” Ponting told SEN radio.

“If you wind the clock back about six months it might have been a slightly different order than what it is now.

“I think they probably had Harris as the one that would come back in a while ago.

“To me now it sort of feels (there’s) a bit more of a groundswell behind Cameron Bancroft getting first crack.”

All-rounder Green, who was dropped during this year’s Ashes series, is another intriguing Test prospect.

The 24-year-old hit an impressive 96 for Western Australia in that Shield match and also finished with the tidy figures of 0-17 from 11 overs with the ball in the first innings and backed up with an even more efficient 0-6 from eight overs in the second.

But Ponting doesn’t know if Green should be returned to the baggy green just yet.

“I think Cameron Green might just have to sit back and bide his time and wait for the opportunity to come back,” Ponting said.

“He can get a truckload of runs in Shield cricket and sort of force his way back into the side.”

Ponting also had one more surprise in his SEN chat, backing Glenn Maxwell for consideration for a Test recall.

“I could see him (Maxwell) getting back into a Test line-up because of the all-round game that he brings in those conditions,” Ponting said.

“The (201) not out in that (World Cup) game against Afghanistan is the most remarkable one-day innings I’ve ever seen.

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“I’ve been around a lot of games, watched a lot of games, played a lot of games, I’ve never ever seen anything like that.”

David Warner is expected to open the batting for Australian when the first Test of the Aussie summer gets underway against Pakistan on December 14.

- with James Dampney

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