"David Warner Not Among The Greats Of The Game"- John Buchanan

Australian opener David Warner retired from Test cricket after the third Test between Pakistan and Australia in Sydney. Australia won the match by 8 wickets and completed a clean sweep against the Men in Green.

Warner scored 57 runs in the final Test innings and scored 299 runs from three matches at an average of 49.83 including a century in the very first Test of the series. Overall, the southpaw scored 8786 runs in 112 Test matches at an average of 44.6 including 37 fifties and 26 hundreds.

Despite David Warner’s stellar record as a test cricketer, former Australian head coach John Buchanan denied counting him among the greats of Test cricket. Speaking to SEN Breakfast, Buchanan reckons the likes of Don Bradman, Glenn McGrath, and Shane Warne are the ones to be said to be the greats of the format.

“I think he’s certainly performed exceptionally well throughout this career, he sits on 8000+ runs, he’s played over 100 Test matches, over 160 ODIs and nearly 100 T20s. On performance base, he’s right up there” said Buchanan.

“But greats of the game, in my opinion, are people that really do and have done something exceptional that others just can’t match, so therefore you automatically go to the Bradmans, McGraths, Warnes, they’re the greats in my opinion. Others come close, but are just not in that category and I don’t see Warner in that category” he further added.

David Warner at the post-match presentation after AUstralia’s series win against Pakistan thanked everyone who has been a part of his journey as an international Tets match cricketer. In that long speech, he thanked his fans, teammates, and especially his wife who stood by him in the toughest of times.

“Would like to be remembered as exciting, entertaining, and I hope I put a smile on everyone’s face with the way that I played and hopefully the young kids out there can follow in my footsteps. White-ball cricket to Test cricket. It’s the pinnacle of our sport. So keep working hard to play the red-ball game because it’s entertaining as well” said Warner in his post-match presentation speech.

Cricket Australia now are looking for Warner’s replacement at the top of the order. Among the many options, Steve Smith seems to be the front-runner to replace him as an opener in Test cricket. Smith has never opened for Australia in Test cricket and has primarily batted at number four throughout his Test career.

Marcus Harris, Matt Renshaw, and Cameron Bancroft are the other three options that CA has been pondering. Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson recently backed Cameron Green to replace Warner as an opener. Watson himself switched top opening the batting in Test cricket from batting in the middle-order and believes that Green can also follow the same path.

Warner announced his ODI retirement as well last week. However, he is open to playing in the Champions Trophy 2025, and hence a comeback to ODI cricket is on the cards for the southpaw. He will be next seen leading the Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 2024 starting from January 19 in the UAE.

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