David Warner: Joe Root already having nightmares about Josh Hazlewood
David Warner has opened fire on England batting great Joe Root, claiming he has a major technical flaw and will be having “nightmares’’ about facing Josh Hazlewood this Ashes summer.
David Warner has opened fire on England batting great Joe Root, claiming he has a major technical flaw and will be having “nightmares’’ about facing Josh Hazlewood this Ashes summer.
And Warner has warned emerging superstar Harry Brook he faces a bouncer barrage and England’s entire Bazball philosophy will be under threat from sustained short ball attacks.
Playing for the London Spirit in England’s Hundred competition, Warner said there was a reason why Root, despite scoring 39 Test centuries, has failed to make one in three tours of Australia where he averages 35.
“The way he brings his bat down playing on Australian wickets, it can bring him undone and I’ve seen it in the past,” Warner told the London Telegraph.
“I think he will have nightmares before he gets over here about Josh Hazlewood.
“Joe is a hell of a cricket player, look at the runs he has scored, the second leading run-scorer in the world, there are not too many things you can say to him that he doesn’t have an answer for,” Warner says.
“But I’m sure he’d like to score a hundred in Australia. It’s one that has eluded him. I think that will be on his mind.”
Hazlewood’s pin-point seam bowling has extracted Root 10 times in Tests, one less than Pat Cummins.
Like a lot of batsmen raised on the seaming decks of northern England, there is a feeling that Root plays the ball late and with an angular bat that can get him ins strife on high bouncing Australian decks.
Warner feels batting sensation Brook, who has scored 10 centuries in 30 Tests, will face a sustained attack of short balls.
“Guys like Brooky can come out and play the way he wants, but he is going to have to start practising more on the short ball because I think that’s what he is going to get.
“They will target him early through the slipstream and the cordon will look to be brought into play, but knowing the Australian bowlers, they will target those things.”
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Warner senses England’s cavalier Bazball style will be tested by short pitched bowling which will restrict their front foot shots.
“If England want to take that approach in Australia, they are going to have to expect a deep third man, a deep backward point, two men out square and all that and then you can play your shots.
“There are going to be a lot of chances and Australia will have to take them. In Australia, there is not one place where you can drive on the up and play shots willy nilly.”
