Former Australian cricket captain Tim Paine has detailed whispers he’s heard from within the Aussie camp surrounding David Warner’s place in the team.
As the 2023 Cricket World Cup edges closer, speculation over Warner has ramped up and just where he’d bat in the Aussie order.
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Paine said the whispers surrounding the 36-year-old are that his place in the batting order will fall, likely seeing him bat at either four or five.
“That’s something I have heard,” Paine said on SEN Tassie.
“It’s going to be imperative to get off to really fast starts and right now, Travis Head and Mitch Marsh are our most explosive players.
“I think Warner can come in at No.4. He’s a good player of spin, he’s fast between the wickets, he’s also got power and can control the innings.
“So I like having him in the middle order in those conditions. And I have heard that from a few people, that it’s certainly been talked about.”
The move would see Head and Marsh open the batting for Australia. A partnership that was prolific during their three match ODI series against India in March.
Through the three matches the partnership piled on 194 runs with Marsh dominating while opening the batting.
He finished the series as Australia’s leading run-scorer and was named the player of the series.
Marsh scored 81 in the first ODI before combining with Head for an unbeaten stand of 121 as Australia won the second game by 10 wickets. Marsh then scored 66 not out from 36 balls, with Head making 51 from 30.
Warner returned to the squad for the third and final ODI where he batted fourth and made 23 runs from 31 deliveries.
In June, Warner announced his plans to step away from Test cricket at the end of the next home summer, explaining his desire to have a farewell tour concluding at his beloved Sydney Cricket Ground.
Warner said while he wanted to finish his career on his home ground, he intended to continue playing limited-overs formats for Australia through to the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“You‘ve got to score runs,” Warner said.
“I’ve always said the (2024) World Cup would probably be my final game.
“I probably owe it to myself and my family – if I can score runs here and continue to play back in Australia – I can definitely say I won‘t be playing that West Indies series.
“If I can get through this (WTC final and ensuing Ashes campaign) and make the Pakistan series I will definitely finish up then.”