He has shown lot of good signs: Pat Cummins backs David Warner ahead of 4th Ashes Test
Jul 18, 2023
Manchester [UK], July 18 : Australia captain Pat Cummins has deflected concerns over whether the team will start with both all-rounders Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green over spinner Todd Murphy by anticipating that David Warner will play in the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
This Ashes series, Warner has produced 141 runs from six knocks, and his status at the top of Australia's batting order has been called into doubt when he failed twice in the most recent Test, which England won in Headingley when bowled by long-time nemesis Stuart Broad on both occasions.
Australia and Engalnd will square off in the fourth Test match of the Ashes series at Old Trafford from Wednesday.
"We'll chat about it, but I imagine it will stay the same. I think [Warner] has been going really well. I thought at Lord's, he was really impressive. Last week, like many of us, he probably didn't contribute as much as he would have liked with the bat," ESPNcricinfo quoted Cummins was saying of the opening pairing.
"He's been out there over the last couple of days putting in a lot of work, but I think this tour he has shown a lot of good signs and hasn't quite kicked on to make that big score. Some of those innings he's played under really tough circumstances has made it easy for [Steven] Smith to come in and score runs, or the like," said the Australia captain.
The only other option for Green to return would seem to be Todd Murphy leaving Australia with an all-pace attack supplemented by Travis Head, who did have a lengthy spell in the nets on Monday, if Warner is kept as predicted. At Headingley, Murphy was only marginally utilised, and Cummins seemed to be slightly hedging his bets over the potential outcome.
"Every situation is different. We've played games with one quick; we've played some games with heaps of quicks. It's all really conditions based. As I said last week about Toddy, I would have loved to bowl him a bit more but there wasn't a heap of overs in the game, the ball seemed to swing and seam a little bit, so that's certainly something to weigh up this week," Cummins said.
