David has to find his inner Goliath.
Bowling legend says a big score is long overdue from opener
David has to find his inner Goliath.
David Warner's career could be "coming towards an end" unless the 36-year-old lefty opener posts a big knock in the fifth and final Ashes Test against England.
None other than Glenn McGrath expressed this sentiment.
Warner made 24 in the first innings at The Oval, where the final Test is being played. Altogether, in nine innings in this Ashes, he has made 225 runs at a pedestrian average of 25. His 66 in the second Test at Lord’s has been his only half-century in the series.
"There’s a bit of pressure on Dave Warner. He looked ok, but then, got out again. To be honest, I think, unfortunately, that maybe, it's coming towards the end of his career," McGrath told SENQ Breakfast.
“I know he came out the other day and said he wanted to play it to the end of next summer. But I think the pressure is on him. The vultures are circling. Unless he comes out in the second dig and produces a big score, I think he might struggle.”
Despite the chatter that the Ashes might be his Test swansong, Warner doesn’t intend to go into the sunset just yet. He has suggested he would like to retire at his home venue, the Sydney Cricket Ground, during the Test series against Pakistan later in the year.
Warner has just one century in his last 25 Tests. McGrath feels his countryman has been batting well and getting starts, but has not been consistent.
"Unfortunately, he's got a lot of starts this series and then just gets out. I'm not sure what's there. The timing is not quite there. He had that big innings back in Australia on Boxing Day where he got the 200 (against South Africa), but there hasn't been a sort of real big score before or after that for quite some time,” McGrath said.
"He's probably feeling the pressure, he still talks it up and says he's going fine and this and that, but he's got to put the runs on the board, unfortunately.”
Knowing Warner, a big one might just be around the corner.